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THE 
 
 LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 OF 
 
 FRANCIS THE FIRST. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
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L'^^V^^^e^''^ 
 
 THE 
 
 
 yj'^. /^ / /-^ 
 
 LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 OF 
 
 FRANCIS THE FIRST, 
 
 Sttn3 of d?rsnct. 
 
 BY JAMES BACON, ESQ. 
 
 SECOND EDITION. 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON: 
 EDWARD BULL, HOLLES STREET. 
 
 1830. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 In submitting to the public a history of the 
 Life and Times of Francis the First, the author 
 feels that he encounters the danger of having 
 his labours compared with those of other writers 
 who have treated of the same period, with a view 
 to the history of other sovereigns and other 
 countries. In order to deprecate a criticism from 
 which he shrinks^ — because proceeding upon 
 such grounds it cannot be other than extremely 
 injurious to him^ — he begs permission to state, 
 that with a strong inclination to undertake the 
 task^th^ most powerful among the many reasons 
 which combined to deter him was the recollec- 
 tion, that the lives of Charles the Fiftli and of 
 Henry the Eighth, the contemporaries and the 
 competitors of Francis the First, had already 
 been written by authors, whose talents he re- 
 
Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 spects infinitely^ but whose merits he cannot 
 liojie to ennulate. The motive which induced 
 him to persist in his labours, and which has been 
 powerful enough to bring those labours to a 
 termination, was an earnest desire to supply, as 
 well as he might, that deficiency in English 
 literature^ which the want of a history of the 
 king* who governed France for the first half of 
 the sixteenth century had occasioned. While 
 the personal character of Francis the First 
 seemed at least as well worthv of celebration 
 as those of his contemporaries, the events which 
 marked the historv of France durino: his reio^i 
 produced upon the times in which he fliourished 
 an effect not less important, nor were they in 
 themselves less varied or interesting, than those 
 which have been more minutely detailed in the 
 annals of the Empire, of Spain, and of England. 
 The attempt to place that character and tho-e 
 events in the distinct and independent position 
 which they are entitled to hold, he now submits, 
 with a full sense of its arduousness, and not 
 without great apprehension, to the impartial 
 judgment of the public. 
 
PREFACE, Ix 
 
 Of the maimer in wliicli lu mav have sue- 
 eeeded in aeeomplishin.u' his purpose, the au- 
 thor eaiiuot form, and ought not to express an 
 opinion. All that he pretends to is an earnest 
 endeavour to have exeeuted his task to the ut- 
 most of his ability, and to have endeavoured, by 
 research and diligence, to supply from the co- 
 temporary and other histories, and from docu- 
 ments in the pubUc libraries (some of \vhich 
 have either been overlooked or their importance 
 underrated), the facts and information which 
 relate to this subject. 
 
 \\ hile he lays claim to these, the only grounds 
 on which he is entitled to any degree of merit, he 
 feels that it is his duty, — and he discharges it 
 with pleasure and gratitude, — to bear testimony 
 to the valuable services which have been ren- 
 dered to the history of England, and of Europe^ 
 by the judgment and industry of two living his- 
 torians. To Mr. Ellis, and lo Mr. Sharon Tur- 
 ner, he begs to return his thanks for the fa- 
 cilities which their several works have afforded 
 him in the prosecution of his labours; and in 
 justice to their excellence, and to his own feel- 
 
X PREFACE. 
 
 ings, he gladly avails himself of this public op- 
 portunity of acknowledging that whatever may 
 be the worth of his work, mnch of it is derived 
 from the light which their well-directed and in- 
 defatigable exertions have cast upon that period 
 of modern history to which these volumes relate. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 OF 
 
 VOLUME THE FIRST 
 
 CHAP. 1. 
 
 Introduction — The house of Angouleme — The birth of 
 Francis — His father's death — Accession of Louis XH. — 
 Education of Francis — Marriage of Louis with Anne of 
 Brittany — Countess d' Angouleme invited to the court — 
 The Italian campaign of Charles VIII. — Louis determines 
 to attack the Milanese — Invasion and conquest of that 
 state — Sforza attempts to regain it — Is betrayed by the 
 Swiss, and sent a prisoner to France, where he dies — 
 Louis joins Ferdinand of Spain in an attack upon Naples 
 — Dissensions between them — Composed by a treaty, which 
 the Spaniards break — Battles of Seminara and Cerignola 
 — Defeat of d'Aubigny and the duke de Nemours — Louis 
 directs an army against Naples, which is stopped at Rome 
 in consequence of the Pope's death — Poisoning of Alex- 
 ander VI. — Defeat of the French at Garigliano — Gallan- 
 try of Bayard, La Palice, andd'Ars — Borgia betrayed by 
 the great captain — Sent into Spain as a prisoner — His 
 death — Louis XII. 's illness — The queen meditates retir- 
 ing into Brittany — Is prevented by the marechal de Gie 
 — The king recovers — The marechal is tried and disgraced 
 — Treaty of Blois — The king again falls ill, and recovers 
 — Death of Isabella of Spain — Marriage of Ferdinand 
 with Germaine de Foix, and cession of Louis's claims on 
 Naples — Assembly of the states general a( Tours — The 
 princess Claude is affianced to Francis .... p. 1 
 
 J. 
 
Xll CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 Julius attempts the expulsion of the French from Italy — 
 Encourages a revolt iu Genoa — Which is subdued by 
 Louis in person — Interview between Louis and Ferdinand 
 — Julius effects the league of Cambray against the Vene- 
 tians, who endeavour to avert the war, but in vain — Louis 
 enters Italy with a large army, and defeats the Venetians 
 at Agnadello — Returns to France — The Venetians recover 
 themselves, and are reconciled to the Pope — Julius per- 
 sists in his hostility to France — Solicits Henry VIII. to 
 join a league, and succeeds in detaching the Swiss from 
 the French interests — Louis calls a council of the Gallican 
 church, by which Julius's proceedings are condemned — 
 Julius takes the field in person — Attacks Ferrara, and 
 takes Mirandola — Calls a council of the Lateran — Replies 
 to the charges of the council, and forms the holy league 
 against France — Gaston de Foix assumes the command of 
 the Italian army — His rapid victories, and death at Ra- 
 venna — The troops of the league drive the French out of 
 Italy — Ferdinand attacks Mavarre with the assistance of 
 England — Expels Jean d'Albret — Louis sends an army 
 thither under the command of Francis, duke of Valois 
 — Effects a reconciliation with the Venetians — Julius dies 
 — His character — Leo. X. is elected Pope — The war is 
 continued — The defeat of the French at Novarra — The 
 French again expelled from Italy — Henry VIII. invades 
 France — The siege of Terouenne — The battle of the Spurs 
 — The Swiss penetrate France, and besiege Dijon, but are 
 pacified by la Tremouille — Henry takes Tournay, and re- 
 tires from France — Death of Anne of Brittany — Marriage 
 of Francis with the princess Claude — Proposal of marriage 
 between Louis and the princess Mary of England — Ac- 
 cepted — She repairs to France, is married and crowned — 
 Louis dies — His character p. 55 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 Francis's accession and coronation — His first exercise of 
 power — The (jueen dowager marries the duke of Suffolk, 
 and returns to England — Francis determines to attempt to 
 
CONTENTS. Xlll 
 
 regain the Milanese — State of the European powers — 
 Italy — Germany — Spain — England — The Swiss — Con- 
 cludes treaties with England — And the archduke of Aus- 
 tria — And Venice — And makes proposals to the Swiss — 
 Who refuse to accept them — Sends Budee to the Pope — 
 Who hesitates — Genoa gained over to France — Francis 
 raises money by the sale of offices — Completes his army 
 — And moves it to Lyons — Difficulties of effecting a pas- 
 sage to Italy — They are overcome — The French army 
 penetrate the Alps — Descend into Italy — And surprise 
 Prospero Colonna, in Villa Franca — The Swiss defend the 
 Milanese — The king proposes a treaty, which is frustrated 
 by the practices of the cardinal de Sion — The Swiss attack 
 the French — Battle of Marignan — And its results — Francis 
 lays siege to Milan, which is surrendered — He enters it in 
 triumph — Is master of the Milanese — And takes up his 
 quarters at Vigevano p. 119 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 Francis treats with the Pope at Bologna — The affair of the 
 Pragmatic Sanction and the Concordat — The king returns 
 to France — Jealousy excited in England respecting d'Au- 
 bigny, the regent of Scotland, and Richard de la Pole, 
 the White Rose — Henry furnishes money to the emperor, 
 who attacks Milan — The result of that expedition — Maxi- 
 milian decamps — The death of Ferdinand — Charles suc- 
 ceeds to the throne of Spain — Negociations between the 
 ministers of Francis and Charles — Treaty of Noyon — 
 Francis forms a permanent league with the Helvetic States 
 — Birth of the dauphin, Francis — Bourbon recalled from 
 Milan — The countess de Chateaubriant — History of her 
 introduction to court — Her influence over Francis — 
 Learned men — And state of literature in France — The 
 king encourages it — Patronizes its professors — Proposes 
 to found a royal college — Of which Erasmus is solicited 
 to become the principal — The parliament refuses to re- 
 gister the Concordat — Discontent to which the king's in- 
 sisting on it gives rise — Troubles at Milan, in consequence 
 of Lautrec's government — Trivulzio's unmerited disgrace 
 
XIV CONTENTS. 
 
 and death — Francis solicits the friendship of Henry VIII. 
 Bonnivet's embassy — Treaty of peace — Cession of Tour- 
 nay — Proposed crusade — Disastrous expedition to Den- 
 mark — Charles endeavours to procure the investiture of 
 Naples, and to be crowned king of the Romans — Death of 
 Maximilian — His character p. 181 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 Competition for the empire — The pretensions of Henry VIII, 
 ' — Of Charles — And of Francis — Proceedings of the se- 
 veral concurrents — Francis quarrels vvith Robert de la 
 Mark, who thereupon favours Charles — The adventurer 
 Sickinghen, his character — Being distrusted by Francis, 
 he quarrels with him, and espouses the party of Charles 
 — Charles exerts himself successfully to gain friends — 
 Diet of Frankfort — Charles is elected emperor — Birth of 
 Francis' second son — Henry VIII. is godfather — Propo- 
 sals for a meeting between Francis and Henry — The em- 
 peror visits England — The meeting between the kings of 
 France and England at the Field of Cloth of Gold — 
 Francis and Charles agree to leave to Henry the settle- 
 ment of their differences — Accident which befalls Francis 
 — The rise of the Reformation in Germany — Sale of in- 
 dulgences — Luther preaches and writes against them — 
 Controversies on the subject — Luther summoned to Augs- 
 burg — Defends his propositions before the Papal Nuncio 
 — Disputes with Eccius — The emperor summons Luther 
 to the Diet at Worms — His appearance and conduct there 
 — Is condemned by the emperor, and put under ban — He 
 refuses to retract — Returns to Wittemberg — On his jour- 
 ney he is seized, by order of the elector of Saxony, and 
 conveyed for safety to the Warteburg — He writes in 
 favour of the Reformation — Translates and publishes the 
 New Testament p. 235 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 Jealousy between Francis and the emperor — The grounds 
 of their differences — State of Spain — The discontent of 
 
CONTENTS. ' XV 
 
 fhe people presents a favourable opportunity for attacking 
 Navarre — Francis sends an army under Lesparre to assist 
 Henri d'Albret — The campaign in Navarre — Ignatius 
 Loyola — Navarre gained — And lost — Lesparre defeated 
 and made prisoner — Charles complains of Francis's con- 
 duct — De la Mark reconciles himself to Francis — Defies 
 and attacks the emperor — Who accuses Francis of encou- 
 raging his enemy — Proposal to refer their differences to 
 Henry VIII. — Charles invades the French frontier — 
 Takes Mouzon and besieges Mezi^res — Francis prepares 
 to repel the attack — The gallant defence of Mezieres by 
 Bayard — The siege is raised — Success of the French 
 troops — Francis has an opportunity of defeating the em- 
 peror in person, which he neglects — He deprives the 
 constable Bourbon of his right of leading the vanguard 
 of his army — Bonnivet leads an array to the assistance of 
 the king of Navarre — His rapid success — Conference at 
 Calais agreed on — Proceedings of the commissioners — 
 The conference broken up — Bonnivet's further success in 
 Navarre — Affairs of Italy — The discontent of the Pope 
 against Francis — Cruel and sanguinary government of 
 Lautrec in the Milanese — He attacks Reggio in person, 
 in the absence of Lautrec, which determines the Pope to 
 enter into an alliance with the emperor — Lescun prepares 
 for defence, and calls upon Lautrec to resume his govern- 
 ment — Having obtained a promise of a supply of money 
 from Francis for payment of his troops, he returns — Pro- 
 ceedings of the armies — Lautrec misses an advantageous 
 opportunity of attacking — The Swiss desert from his army 
 — He is defeated at Rebec — Driven out of Milan, and 
 loses the whole of the state, with the exception of Cre- 
 mona — Francis's anger against his lieutenant at this event 
 — The death of Leo X. by poison p. 305 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 Competitors for the papal throne — The cardinal of Tor- 
 tosa is elected — Francis sends Lautrec with an army 
 into Italy — Milan is attacked, but holds out — The battle 
 of Bicocca — The French defeated — Cremona capitulates 
 
XVI CONTENTS. 
 
 — Genoa is taken — Laiitrec returns to court — Is reproach- 
 ed by Francis — Explains the causes of his failure — Ac- 
 cuses Semblan9ai, the finance minister, of having with- 
 held the requisite supplies — Seniblancai justifies himself by 
 shewing that the duchess d'Angouleme had kept back the 
 money destined for the troops — The duchess procures his 
 disgrace — He is executed — War on the Spanish frontier — 
 Charles negociates with Henry — Visits England — Thev 
 conclude a treaty against France—Henry's embassy to 
 Francis — The interview between Francis and the English 
 envoy — War is declared — Campaign in the Low Country 
 frontier — Prancis assists the pretender Pole, who threat- 
 ens to invade England — x\nd d'Aubigny, who opposes the 
 English interests in Scotland — Proposes to renew his 
 treaty with the Venetians — Intrigues by the English and 
 imperial agents — The Venetians declare against France — 
 Rhodes attacked by the Turks — The gallant defence of 
 the grand master — The island is taken — The policy of the 
 Pope — Cardinal Soderini intrigues to favour an attack on 
 Sicily by Francis — The plot is discovered — The Pope 
 joins the emperor's party ........ p. 347 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 Francis provides for the defence of his kingdom — Raises an 
 army for the attack of the Milanese — Bourbon's revolt — 
 The causes which led to it — He is persecuted by the du- 
 chess d'Angouleme — His property sequestered — Nego- 
 ciates with the emperor and the king of England for an at- 
 tack on France — The details of his plot — It is discovered 
 by Francis — The king visits Bourbon, and endeavours 
 to reconcile him — Bourbon's dissimulation — Flies from 
 France — Particulars of his escape — Proceedings against 
 his accomplices, and their result — Bourbon takes the com- 
 mand of the Italian army — The emperor attacks France 
 from the Spanish frontier — The English army, joined by 
 the Flemings, invades Picardy — They approach Paris — 
 Are checked by the duke de Vendome — Retreat — Ter- 
 mination of the campaign p. 391 
 
CONTENTS. XVII 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 The command of the Italian army is given to Bonnivet — His 
 campaign — Blockades Milan — Bayard relieves Cremona — 
 Colonna's defence — Bonnivet goes into winter quarters — 
 Death of Colonna — and of Adrian VI. — Election of the 
 cardinal Colonna, under the title of Clement VII. — who 
 endeavours to effect a peace — The camisade of Kebec — 
 Bonnivet's retreat — The death of Bayard — Bourbon in- 
 vades France — Lays siege to Marseilles — Raises the 
 siege, and retreats into Italy — Francis again invades Italy 
 — Takes Milan and invests Pavia — The Pope proposes a 
 truce, which is rejected — D'Aubigny marches upon Na- 
 ples — Money conveyed by a stratagem into Pavia — Bour- 
 bon, with the assistance of the partisan Freundsberg, 
 raises an army in Germany — Marches into Italy — The 
 Grisons desert from the king — The imperialists seek an 
 engagement — which Francis rashly determines not to 
 avoid — Mirabello is attacked — The battle of Pavia — Fran- 
 cis's army is defeated — He is made prisoner — His de- 
 meanor after the battle — Its consequences ... p. 441 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
CHAP. I. 
 
 Introduction — The House of Angoultme — Tlie Birth 
 of Francis — His father^ s death — Accession of Louis 
 XII, — Education of Francis — Marriage of Louis 
 with Anne of Brittany — Countess d'Anyoulcnie in- 
 vited to the Court — The Italian campaign of Charles 
 VIII, — Louis determines to attack the Milanese — 
 Invasion and conquest of that state — Sforza at- 
 tempts to regain it — Is betrayed by the Swiss, and 
 sent a prisoner to France, where he dies — Louis 
 joins Ferdinand of Spain in an attack upon Naples 
 — Dissensions between them — Composed by a treaty, 
 ivhich the Spaniards break — Battles of Seminara 
 and Cerignola — Defeat of D' Aubigni/ and the Duke 
 de JVemours — Louis directs an arm?/ against Naples, 
 which is stopped at Rome, in consequence of the 
 Pope's death — Poisoning of Alexander VI, — Defeat 
 of the French at Garigliano — Gallantry of Bayard, 
 La Palice, and D'Ars — Borgia betrayed by the 
 Great Captain— Sent into Spain as a prisoner — His 
 death — Louis XI I.' s illness — The Queen meditates 
 retiring into Brittany — Is prevented by the Mare- 
 dial de Gie — The King recovers — The Marechal is 
 tried and disgraced — Treaty of Blois — The King 
 again falls ill, and recovers — Death of Isabella of 
 Spain — Marriage of Ferdinand with Germaine de 
 Foix, and cession of Louis's claims on Naples — 
 Assembly of the States General at Tours— The 
 Princess Claude is affianced to Francis, 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 / 
 
THE 
 
 LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 OF 
 
 FRANCIS THE FIRST. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 There is no period of modern history more 
 brilliant or more interesting' than that occupied 
 by the events which took place in the sixteenth 
 century. The perfection of the art of printing-, 
 and the diffusion of learning of which it was the 
 instrument ; the discovery of a new world, and 
 the vigorous impulse which that discovery had 
 given to human enterprise; an universal thirst 
 for freedom, and a perception of the means by 
 which it might be achieved, had laid the ground 
 for a series of new and wonderful occurrences. 
 Literature, science, the arts of peace and of 
 war, had been slowly proceeding to that degree 
 of maturity at which their influence ^^as to 
 become general, and having assumed the ap- 
 pointed phase^ their combined light shed over 
 Europe a flood of illumination which effected 
 an important change in the aspect and interests 
 
 b2 
 
THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 I. 
 
 of civilised society. Human genius, awakened 
 from the slumber in which it had lain bound 
 under the influence of ignorance and tyranny^, 
 was prepared to engage in the struggle that 
 could not be avoided, with uncompromising 
 courage and stedfast hope. It is at such pe- 
 riods that the minds of men, warming under 
 the genial excitement of the times, display 
 their noblest qualities ; that the more exalted 
 spirits of earth, catching the first beams of the 
 coming light, reflect its brilliancy upon the 
 lower world, and give token of the day which 
 is about to dawn. France, from her position, 
 as well as from many other favouring circum- 
 stanceSj was especially adapted for experiencing 
 the effects of the improvement which had be- 
 gun its coui'se; and of all the monarch s by 
 whom her sceptre had been swayed, none had 
 ever been better suited to the times in which he 
 lived, or more able to compete with the master- 
 minds by which he was surrounded^ than 
 Francis the First. 
 
 His character was closely identified with that 
 of the nation he was destined to govern. In him 
 were united all the noblest and the best, as well 
 as some of the weakest and most blameable 
 of the qualities which characterise the French 
 people. Their habits, feelings^ temperament, 
 virtues and vices^ were reflected in him ; with 
 much to censure, there was so much more to 
 admire — and that too of a kind which they were 
 most prone to admire — that his subjects paid 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. i 
 
 him the willing tribute of their admiration, and chap. 
 
 yielded him a prompt obedience even on points !l_ 
 
 which involved the sacrifice of their most impor- 
 tant interests. He was amiable, impetuous, ar- 
 dent^ and sensitive ; valiant in battle, courteous 
 and light-hearted in peace^ and himself too 
 much a lover of freedom to aim at restricting 
 the liberty of his subjects. At once the life- 
 breath of that chivalry which was brought in 
 his reign to its highest polish and perfection, 
 and the munificent fosterer of literature and the 
 fine arts, he was the Avorthy precursor of two 
 monarchs of whom France is justly proud, and 
 displayed in his own person the frank courage 
 and aflfability of Henri Quatre, with more of 
 learning and refinement ; while the elegance 
 and splendour of his court equalled that of Louis 
 Quatorze^ without the ostentation which some- 
 times made the latter puerile. 
 
 The events of his life were of the most stirrinir 
 and chequered kind. The emulous rival of 
 Leo X. in encouraging the spread of knowledge 
 and the establishment of letters ; the competi- 
 tor of Charles V. in Avar ; the spoilt child of for- 
 tune at Marignan, and the object of her heavi- 
 est spite at Pavia : in turn a conqueror and a 
 captive, he experienced all that human existence 
 has of bitter and of sweet. The vicissitudes he 
 endured illustrate the very romance of history ; 
 and while the sufferings of so noble a spirit con- 
 tinue to excite the sympathy of posterity, the 
 events of his later life teach the Avholesomc mo- 
 
6 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 c H A r. j.^1 lesson, that it is in the cuUivation of the more 
 
 '. elevated qualities of the mind, in establishing 
 
 peace, and in contributing to the amelioration 
 of mankind, that the only true and attainable 
 happiness consists. 
 
 At the period of his birth^ his cliance of 
 succession to the throne was extremely re- 
 mote. Charles VIII. the reigning monarch, was 
 then in the prime of life^ and he had a son 
 living. The Orleans line was indeed the next 
 in degree, and the family of Angouleme was of 
 that branch ; but its heir could onlv succeed in 
 the double event of failure of male issue of the 
 king, and of the elder branch of the house of 
 Orleans. 
 
 The circumstances of his family too were not, 
 as it then seemed, the most favourable to his fu- 
 ture advancement. He had been deprived in 
 his early infancy of his father's protection ; the 
 care of his education had devolved upon his 
 mother, an inexperienced widow of eighteen, and 
 upon his uncle, then duke of Orleans, whose in- 
 fluence was so slender, that whatever might be 
 his affection for his young kinsman^ he seemed 
 to have no immediate prospect of being able 
 materially to help his fortunes. The patrimo- 
 nial possessions of the house of Angouleme had 
 suffered a material diminution by the effects of 
 the desolating war which, during the preceding 
 century, had vexed and impoverished the land. 
 A succession of fortnnate events, however, en- 
 abled Francis to triUin])h over these disadvant- 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 7 
 
 ages, and lifted him, almost as soon as he was ^"^p- 
 capable of filhng it, to one of the highest stations ' 
 in the civilised world. 
 
 He was the great-great-grandson of that Louis, 
 duke of Orleans^ whom John^ duke of Burgundy, 
 influenced no less by jealousy than by ambition, 
 caused to be barbarously assassinated in the 
 reign of Charles VI. (a) 
 
 (a) " The duke de Berri had effected a seeming reconci- 
 liation between the dukes of Burgundy and Orleans, which 
 each of them had sworn upon the sacrament to observe. 
 Within three days after this solemn act, the duke of Orleans 
 being, as usual, at the queen's lodgings, where he spent his 
 evenings, a person came in haste to inform him that the king- 
 desired to speak with him immediately on an affair of im- 
 portance. The duke, mounted on his mule, preceded by two 
 pages and followed only by two of his domestics, set out for 
 the Hotel de St. Pol, where the king lodged, and on the way 
 was attacked by a company of about twenty ruffians, com- 
 manded by one whom he had removed from a trifling office 
 in the king's service. This man, with his poleaxe, cut off" 
 the duke's hand as it rested on the side of his mule. He 
 cried out immediately, *' I am the duke of Orleans !" *' It 
 is he," replied the assassin, "for whom we watch,'* and, 
 with a second blow, cleft his skull. One of his servants, a 
 Fleming, endeavoured to cover his master's body with his 
 own, and was dispatched with him. The assassins then 
 made their escape with such expedition and address, that 
 none of them were then known. This execrable action was 
 committed on the twenty-third, or, as some say, on the 
 twenty-second of November. The author for some days 
 was not suspected 3 but the provost of Paris being sent for 
 by the council, to know what discoveries or what inquiries 
 he had made, he demanded leave to search the houses of the 
 princes themselves, which was granted him. The king of 
 the Two Sicilies looking at this time upon the duke of Bur- 
 gundy, saw him change countenance ; and soon after he 
 
8 
 
 CHAP. 
 I. 
 
 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 By Valeiitina of Milan, his consort, from 
 whom were derived those claims to the Milanese 
 w hich proved so fatal a cause of war to France, 
 the murdered duke left three sons : Charles, duke 
 of Orleans, Philip^ count de Vertus^ who died 
 without any legitimate issue, and John, count 
 of Angouleme, the grandfather of Francis I. 
 Charles of Orleans soon after his father's death, 
 and under the pretext of revenging his murder,, 
 engaged the assistance of the English army^ and 
 persuaded his brother of Angouleme to join him 
 in the rash enterprise. 
 
 Charles being afterwards unable to pay the 
 whole amount of the levies for which he had 
 stipulated, his brother John surrendered him- 
 self to the English government as a security for 
 that part of the debt which remained due from 
 the duke of Orleans. The result of the battle 
 of Agincourt, where the duke was taken pri- 
 soner, united the brothers in the same captivity, 
 ^vhich lasted, as to the count d'Angouleme^ for 
 thirty^ and as to the duke^ for twenty-five years ; 
 and was at length terminated by the generous 
 exertions of Philip the Good, duke of Burgundy, 
 the son of their father^s murderer, and who had 
 himself a father's murder to avenoe. 
 
 The count d' Angouleme, although he had by 
 
 confessed to that prince, and to the duke de Berri, that it 
 was by his order that the duke of Orleans was killed. The 
 admiral assembled a company of one hundred and twenty 
 knights, with whom he would have pursued him, but the 
 council interposed, and obliged him to desist." — Mezeray, 
 Le Pere Daniel, t. vi. 
 
OF FHANCIS THE FIRST. 9 
 
 these means recovered his liberty, found himself ^hap. 
 
 obliged, on his return to his native country, to '. 
 
 sell his county of Perigord and to mortgage 
 other parts of his patrimony for the purpose of 
 repaying' the debt he had incurred for his re- 
 demption. In the stern school of adversity he 
 had learnt, how^ever, lessons of prudence and 
 forbearance^ which influenced the whole of his 
 future life. He kept aloof from the dangerous 
 politics of the time^ and withdrew himself to 
 Angouleme, where he led a useful and honour- 
 able life^ and died in the odour of sanctity^ 
 having even gained so great a reputation for 
 piety that he is said to have performed some mi- 
 racles, (a) But neither his piety nor his love of 
 retirement were strong enough to induce him 
 wholly to abstain from warfare. He bore arms 
 in the expedition by which the English were 
 driven out of Guienne in 1451 and 1452, and is 
 said to have repaid himself some of his former 
 losses by the success of that enterprise. 
 
 He was succeeded by his son Charles, who 
 obtained from Louis XL the government of 
 Guienne ; but was thwarted by that extraordi- 
 nary compound of cunning and weakness in his 
 attempt to gain the hand of Mary of Burgundy^ 
 then the richest heiress in Europe, and who had 
 evinced some inclination for the young count 
 d' Angouleme. [b) The crooked policy which 
 
 [a) Vie de Jean le Bon, Comte d'Angouleme, par Papyre 
 Masson. 
 
 {b) Philippe de Coniiiies, 1. vi. c. 3, 
 
10 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 I. 
 
 Louis loved^ betrayed him into a fatal mistake. 
 The fear of aggrandising one of his own sub- 
 jects induced him to let the extensive dominions 
 which had devolved upon Mary by her father's 
 death, depart into the hands of Maximilian, the 
 son of the archduke of Austria, and he thus 
 raised up a dangerous rival where he might have 
 secured an ally. The count d'Angouleme soon 
 afterwards married Louise, daughter of Philip, 
 duke of Savoy, who had been selected for him 
 by the king, and with whom he retired to An- 
 gouleme, his patrimonial estate, determined to 
 escape from the suspicions and intrigues of a mo- 
 narch, whose enmity and friendship were often 
 equally mischievous. Louise, although she did 
 not possess any extraordinary beauty, was not 
 without personal attractions. She readily con- 
 curred with her husband's desire to live in re- 
 tirement ; but the tenour of her subsequent life 
 seemed to indicate that this was rather owing to 
 that facility of compliance with the wish of the 
 person whom she loved, which a young woman, 
 under the influence of an early passion, was 
 likely to feel, than from any natural inclination 
 she possessed for habits of seclusion. Their 
 union was destined to have only a short dura- 
 tion ; but while it lasted, the mutual happiness 
 of the count d'Angouleme and his young wife 
 suffered no interruption. The unremitting at- 
 tention which she paid him in his last moments, 
 and the sincere aflection with which she che- 
 rished his memory, are circumstances that ought 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 11 
 
 not to be forgotten in estimating- her character, chap. 
 which the course of the ensuing history, over ' 
 many of the events of which she exercised a very 
 powerful influence, will display in a much less 
 amiable light. Two children were the issue 
 of this marriage ; Francis^ the subject of the 
 present memoirs, and Margaret, successively 
 ducliess of Alen^on and queen of Navarre, the 
 ^Acll known authoress of tales which, if they 
 are occasionally not less licentious than those 
 of Boccacio, often approach them also in some 
 more worthy points of resemblance. But her 
 most honourable distinction is, that she was the 
 fervent encourager of letters, and the fearless 
 protectress, so far as her influence extended, of 
 the persecuted advocates of that reformation iji 
 religion to which the world is mainly indebted 
 for the universal difl*usion of knowledge and the 
 establishment of civil freedom. 
 
 Francis the first was born at Coignac on the i^^^. 
 12th of September, 1494. His mother haschro- Francis. 
 nicled the event with an expression of fondness 
 and exultation [a) which she was justified in en- 
 tertaining for such a son. In the year 1496, and 
 before he had completed his second year, his 
 father died, when the guardianship of his in- 
 fancy devolved upon his cousin Louis, duke of 
 Orleans, who undertook the task with that judg- 
 
 (a) *« Francois, par la grace de Dieu, Roi de France, et 
 moil Cesar pacifique, print la premiere experience de luniiere 
 mondaine a Cognac, environ 10 heures apres midi, 1494, Ic 
 douziemc jour de Septembre." — Journal de Louise de Savoie. 
 
12 
 
 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 1498. 
 Accession 
 of Louis 
 XII. 
 
 CHAP, n^ent and good feeling which distinguished al- 
 _J most all the actions of one of France's most vir- 
 tuous monarchs. In April, 1498, the effects of 
 intemperance and debauchery upon a constitu- 
 tion naturally weak, hurried Charles VIII. to a 
 premature grave. As he died without leaving 
 issue, the duke of Orleans ascended the throne 
 by the name of Louis XII.; an event which 
 effected an immediate change in the prospects of 
 the young count d'Angouleme. The king, who 
 had now the means of carrying his kind inten- 
 tions into effect^ treated Francis in all respects 
 as his near relation, and as the prince of the 
 blood next the throne. He committed the care 
 Education of his educatioii to a gentleman of Poitou. Artus 
 
 of Francis. , ^ 
 
 de Gouffier Boisy ; one who had so far out- 
 stepped the age in which he livedo and the rank 
 in which he was born, as to cultivate learning 
 and the politer arts of humanity. Gouffier 
 Boisy, who had studied in the great school of 
 the world those principles by which the world is 
 governed, did not confine his pupil's education 
 to the lore that is to be drawn from books 
 alone. He carefully investigated the temper 
 and character of the prince, and adapted to 
 them his instructions. He found him to possess 
 a powerful intellectual capacity with a fiery tem- 
 perament ; an excellent disposition, and very 
 strong affections. Foreseeing the influence 
 A\hich such qualities were too likely to exercise 
 over his pupil in after life, Boisy earnestly en- 
 deavoured to inculcate the important lesson 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 13 
 
 that the passions of men^ ^vhen directed by tlieir chap. 
 
 reason^ are the sources of the most ennobling '. 
 
 virtues^ as well as the means of the greatest en- 
 joyment ; but that if they are permitted to be- 
 come the masters instead of the ministers of 
 human conduct, they are the suicidal destroyers 
 of happiness. («) 
 
 Boisy laboured also to direct the active and 
 ardent temper, the aptitude for learning, the 
 thirst for knowledge^ and the inexhaustible ani- 
 mal spirits which distinguished his pupil, to the 
 pursuit of glory. He taught him to cherish the 
 love of truths the generosity, and the unquench- 
 able valour, which are the prominent virtues of 
 chivalry ; to cultivate that courtesy which is 
 natural to a gentle and noble mind ; and to 
 protect the arts, not only for the sake of the de- 
 lights they are capable of affording but for the 
 immortal fame they confer upon their patrons. 
 The sequel proved the value of his precepts ; for 
 it is to the protection and encouragement w hich 
 Francis bestowed upon literature and the fine 
 arts, much more than to his blood-stained tri- 
 umphs, or to the extraordinary vicissitudes of 
 
 (a) It was to keep constantly before his pupil's eyes the 
 necessity of letting this fire, at once so useful and so full of 
 peril, sometimes blaze to its height, and of sometimes re- 
 pressing and extinguishing it, that Boisy, following the cus- 
 tom of the times, invented, as a device for the future king, 
 a salamander girt round with fire, and gave him for a motto, 
 Nutrisco et Extinguo ; the meaning of which has been 
 often, but, as it should appear with reference to Francis's 
 character, unnecessarily disputed. 
 
14 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, j^^g fortunes, that lie is indebted for that hi^ii 
 
 I . 
 
 — '. — place he holds in modern history. 
 
 The person of Francis vvas^ even in his boy- 
 hood, handsome and graceful. He distinguished 
 himself at an early age in all the martial sports 
 and athletic exercises which then formed a ne- 
 cessary part of every gentleman's education. 
 His robust constitution, his majestic and well- 
 formed figure, gave him considerable advant- 
 ages, to which he added the acquirements of 
 such great dexterity and address, that he was 
 said to manage a battle -horse better than any 
 man of his years, and to be excelled by none in 
 the use of all the weapons of war. Several of 
 the sons of the French nobles shared in this part 
 of his education with him ; and he not only sur- 
 passed them all in his exercises, but, by his na- 
 tural affability and gentleness of temper, he had 
 the rare good fortune so effectually to secure their 
 friendship and affection, that the companions of 
 his early youth, such, for example, as Montmo- 
 renci, Brion, and Montchenu, were the leaders 
 of his armies, the champions of his throne, and 
 his staunch adherents in all the re\erses of his 
 more mature yeai^. 
 Marriage The sccoud marriage of the king had, ho^A- 
 withAnne Gvcr, rendered the chance of Francis ever reach- 
 fai.y? ing the throne apparently more distant than be- 
 fore. Twenty years before his accession to the 
 throne, Louis had married Jeanne of France, 
 the daughter of Louis XI. Her father's threats, 
 which the duke of Orleans had learnt by expe- 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 15 
 
 rience were not to be despised, had iiuluccd liim ^"^p- 
 
 to this step, repugnant as it was to his feelings ; ' 
 
 and although the exemplary patience and amia- 
 bility of temper which Jeanne had displayed 
 during' their ill-assorted union, had commanded 
 the respect of her husband, she had failed to 
 inspire him with any other feelings towards her. 
 By the death of Charles VIII., Anne of Brittany, 
 the object of Louis's first passion — for whom he 
 had endured an imprisonment of seven years — 
 whom he had seen bestowed in marriage on his 
 rival, and that rival his king as well as his near 
 relative — was again free to dispose of her hand. 
 There were reasons of state, inferior, in his esti- 
 mation, to the dictates of his passion, but still 
 not, perhaps, without their influence, why the 
 rich and important fief of which Anne was the 
 heiress should not be separated from the crown 
 of France. He resolved upon annulling his 
 actual marriage, and, alleging that which ^^as 
 untrue {a) in support of the pretences upon 
 which he might, with more plausible reason, 
 have urged such a request, he solicited the Pope 
 to grant him a divorce from his wife Jeanne, 
 and a dispensation to contract a marriage with 
 the c{ueen dowager. He alleged that he had 
 secretly protested at the time of his marriage 
 
 (a) ** II avoit jure a la face de I'Eglise que le mariag'e 
 n'avoit point ete consomme, quoique cette princesse eut jur^ 
 le contraire ; et les miracles qu'elle fit depuis, semblerent 
 confirmer ce qu'elle avoit dit., II avoit soutenu par ecrit 
 d'autres faits sur ce sujet qui n'etoient pas plus vraisem- 
 blable." — Varillas, t. i. p. G. 
 
16 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 I. 
 
 against the duress under which he was compelled 
 to solemnize it ; that Jeanne was deformed, and 
 of so feeble a constitution that it was impossible 
 that she could produce an heir to the throne. 
 Upon every principle of moral justice, it is clearly 
 impossible to excuse such a proceeding, even if 
 all the circumstances upon which it was grounded 
 had been as true as some of them were noto- 
 riously false ; and yet such was the public feeling 
 of that day, that it seems to have excited little 
 disgust : nor is it mentioned bv the historians of 
 the times as any blemish upon the character of 
 the king. With the exception of some of the 
 inhabitants of Paris, who entertained a respect 
 for the memory of Louis XL, (to them a benefac- 
 tor, although a scourge to the rest of his people,) 
 and who did not hesitate to express their disap- 
 probation of the unworthy treatment to which 
 his daughter was exposed, (a) no one seems to 
 have censured it. Jeanne herself offered no ef- 
 fectual opposition (6) to the proceeding ; but her 
 love of truth would not permit her to let the king's 
 depositions respecting their marriage pass uncon- 
 tradicted. Having discharged this duty to her 
 conscience, she withdrcAv to Bourges, where she 
 assumed the monastic habit, and sought to forget 
 in practices of devotion the afflictions by which 
 her progress in the world had been constantly 
 marked. 
 
 Neither the injustice, nor the indecency of 
 Louis's request would however have deterred the 
 
 (a) Mezoray. {b) Le P. Daniel, t. vii. p. 2, 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 17 
 
 Pope to whom it was made from granting it. chap. 
 
 Alexander VI., one of the most monstrous crimi- . 
 
 nals that ever occupied the see of Rome^ directed 
 a commission to three cardinals whose opinions 
 in the king^s favour had been previously ascer- 
 tained, and transmitted it to France by his detest- 
 able son, Caesar Borgia, as his legate, [a) Bor- 
 gia had long determined to quit his ecclesiastical 
 function for the purpose of following without 
 restraint the sanguinary projects he had formed 
 against the liberties and lives of his neighbours, 
 and this occasion appeared a favourable one for 
 putting his project into practice. It was agreed 
 between the king and the Pope, that the compli- 
 ance of the latter should not be without its pur- 
 chase. Borgia was to be created duke of Valen- 
 tinois, in Dauphiny ; to receive in marriage the 
 hand of Charlotta, the daughter of Alain d'Al- 
 bret, and sister to Jean, king of Navarre, who 
 had been educated in the French court ; to be 
 paid a pension of 20,000 livres, and to take the 
 command of 100 lances, with which troop, in 
 his new character of soldier, he was to enter the 
 French service. 
 
 Louis's marriage with the widow of Charles 
 VIII., and the prospect which was thus afforded 
 him, that a son of his own might succeed to his 
 throne, in no degree diminished his affection for 
 the vouno' Francis. He had invited Louise of Countess 
 
 • 1 1 • 1- 1 1 Angou- 
 
 Savov to the court, had received her with all lemein- 
 
 ^^ ' vited to the 
 
 (o) Le P. Daniel, t. vii. p. 16. M^moires de Brantome, ^°"''^- 
 disc. 48. 
 
 VOL. I. C 
 
18 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, the attention which as a princess of the blood 
 ^' she could have expected^ and had endeavoured 
 
 by every possible means to promote a friendship 
 between his queen and his kinswoman. His 
 efforts proved unavailing ; a dissimilarity of tem- 
 per, or some inexplicable cause, inspired those 
 ladies with a mutual dislike, which by degrees 
 increased until they threw off even the appear- 
 ance of cordiality, and cabals were formed on 
 either side^ which added in no small degree to 
 the disquiet that Louis was destined to expe- 
 rience. 
 
 In effecting' the accommodation with Alex- 
 ander VI. Louis was not solely actuated by his 
 wish to obtain the divorce from his former mar- 
 riage. He had designs upon Italy^ in the pro- 
 secution of which the Pope's co-operation might 
 be very serviceable ; and as those designs gave 
 rise to a series of wars^ which occupied a great 
 part of the period embraced by the present his- 
 tory^ and deeply influenced many of the events 
 of Francis's life, it is necessary that their origin 
 and progress, even before he became an active 
 sharer in them, should be shortly explained. 
 TiieTtaiian Chai'lcs VIII. had bccn iuduccd at the persua* 
 of Charles siou of Ludovico Sforza, to attempt the con- 
 quest of Naples, the legitimate title to which 
 was a question of considerable doubt. He crossed 
 the Alps, descended into Italy with a small and 
 ill appointed army , which was nevertheless strong 
 enough to impress the dastardly and divided peo- 
 ple with terror, and made himself master by a 
 
I. 
 
 OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 19 
 
 series of bloodless victories, of a country wliicli chap. 
 could hardly be said to be defended, (a) He 
 gained possession of Naples, the terrified mo- 
 narch of which had fled at his approach. In the 
 intoxication of success he forgot to guard against 
 the treachery by which he was surrounded, while 
 the indiscreet conduct of his followers made the 
 presence of the French so hateful to the Neapoli- 
 tans, that, slaves as they >vere, they wished to 
 exchange these for any other masters. A league 
 was formed by the Pope^ tlie Venetians, the 
 Emperor, and Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, 
 to which Sforza^ the promoter of the invasion, 
 acceded; and Charles suddenly found himself 
 surrounded by enemies, and out of the reach of 
 succour. With a promptness and prudence 
 which, if it had been earlier displayed, would 
 have ensured him the lasting possession of all 
 he had acquired^ he evacuated Naples. At For- 
 
 (a) " Les Italiens etaient etonnes de voir cette grosse artil- 
 
 lerie trainee par des chevaux, eux qui ne connaissaient que de 
 
 petites coulevrines de cuivre trainees par des boeufs. La 
 
 gendarmerie Italienne etait compos^e de spadassins, qui se 
 
 louaient fort cher pour un temps limite a ces condottieri, les- 
 
 quels se louaient encore plus cher aux princes qui achetaient 
 
 leur dangereux service. Chacun d'eux craignait de perdre 
 
 ses hommes : ils poussaient leurs ennemis dans les batailles, 
 
 et ne les frappaient pas. Ceux qui perdaient le champ etaient 
 
 les vaincus. II y avait bcaucoup plus de sang repandu dans 
 
 les vengeances parti culieres, dans les emeutes des villes, 
 
 dans les conspirations, que dans les combats. Machiavel 
 
 rapporte que dans la bataille d'Anguiari, il n'y eut de mort 
 
 qu'un cavalier ^toufF^ dans la presse." — Voltaire, Ejssai sur 
 
 les Mceurs, &c. t. iii. p. 220. 
 
 c2 
 
20 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 1^0 va, on the Taro, he founc! the alhed army 
 
 '■ — amounting to 30,000 men arrayed against him, 
 
 while his own troops, harassed with tlieir march 
 through a hostile country^ made up a scanty 
 8,000. Charles^ who saw that if lie could not 
 force his way through this army^ his death or 
 
 * captivity were certain^ gave orders to engage. 
 
 A battle, infinitely more sanguinary than any 
 the Italians had beheld^ took place, (a) The 
 French lost 200 men^ and of the Italians nearly 
 4,000 were left on the field. Charles lost some 
 of his baggage, but gained the honour and ad- 
 vantage of bringing his army safely into the 
 Milanese. He returned thence to Paris, having 
 left one half of his troops to succour Louis, then 
 duke of Orleans, who was suffering all the hor- 
 rors of famine in Novara, which was besieged^ (fi) 
 and which he was subsequently compelled to 
 evacuate. Naples and its dependencies were 
 soon recovered by the arms of Gonsalvo di Cor- 
 dova, the Great Captain^ and of the brilliant and 
 brief exploits of Charles VIII. in Italy nothing 
 remained but the remembrance. 
 Louis de- i^ ^yr^g this painful remembrance, and a desire 
 
 termines to ^ i -^ 
 
 attack the (q chastisc tlic Dcrfidy and insolence of Ludovico 
 
 Milanese. '■ •' 
 
 Sforza^ who had betrayed Charles, and had oc- 
 
 (a) *' E fu pill maravigliosa a gl'Italiana tanta iiccissione, 
 perche la baUaglia non duro pin d'un'hora, e perch^ com- 
 battendosi da ogni parte con la fortezza propria, e con I'arme, 
 s'adoperarono pocol'artiglierie." — Guicciardini, lib. ii. p. 108. 
 
 [b] Brantome calls it, " Le soufFreteux siege de Navarra, 
 o^ il (Louis) mangea j usques aux chats et aux rats." — Mem. 
 de Brantome, t. vi. p, G4. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 21 
 
 casioned Louis's disgrace at IVavarra, that deter- chap. 
 
 mined liim to attempt the conquest of the Mi- _ 
 
 lanese ; and a feasible pretext ^vas not wanting 
 to give a colour of justice to his design. 
 
 Valenti nn^ the wife of that Louis, duke of 
 Orleans, A\ho had been murdered by the pro- 
 curement of John of Burgundy, was (he daughter 
 of Giovanni Galeazzo Visconti, duke of Milan. 
 In her marriage contract it had been stipulated 
 that on the failure of male issue of her father, the 
 duchy of Milan should devolve upon her and 
 her posterity. The death of Giovanni Galeazzo, 
 childless save Valentina, fulfilled the event which 
 had been contemplated. 
 
 Charles of Orleans, her son, and the father of 
 Louis, whose claim in right of his mother was 
 irresistible, made an attempt to establish that 
 claim, but succeeded only in obtaining the county 
 of Asti. The Milanese were virtuous enousrli 
 to love their freedom, and strong enough to 
 maintain it. By one of those accidents which 
 prove that fortune is not always blind, they 
 were however destined to receive a governor, 
 who, if his issue had been as worthy as he, would 
 have protected them against all the disasters they 
 were fated to endure. 
 
 A peasant, Avho is called by the cotemporary 
 writers indiscriminately Attendulo, or Giaco- 
 muzzo, was ploughing in a field of Cotignola 
 when some troops passed by. The spirit within 
 him prompted him to leave the servile pursuit 
 in which he was engaged, for one w hich, if not 
 
22 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. ]ggg laborious^ would be more distinguished. 
 
 '■ — Yielding to a common superstition, he threw up 
 
 his ploughshare into a tree, with the resolution^ 
 if it should fall again to the earth, to continue his 
 toils ; if not, to seek his fortunes as a soldier. 
 The share remained among the branches, and 
 Attendulo renounced his peaceful avocations. 
 His valour and his prodigious strength soon gave 
 him some consideration amono the soldiers whom 
 he joined, and procured him the name of Sforza, 
 which he made one of the most illustrious of his 
 time, (a) His genius for war developed itself; 
 he rose rapidly to command ; seven thousand 
 volunteers marched under his banners, whose 
 services he sold to such of the intriguing and 
 quarrelsome potentates of Italy as loved war^ 
 but loved better to carry it on with the arms of 
 others than with their own. Wealth and dis- 
 tinction flowed upon him in a full current. An 
 accidental fall from his horse, while he was yet 
 in full vigour, terminated his life. He left legi- 
 timate sons who inherited none of his talents, 
 and one natural son^ Francesco Sforza, whose 
 skill was ecjual, whose good fortune was supe- 
 rior to his own, and who, from being the pro- 
 la) The kynred of the Sforces came of no noble blood ; 
 but one of the attendants of Cotignola, who at the first was 
 under the duke of Milan, in his army as a lixa ; that is, a 
 waterbearer, or, as the Frenchmen call him, calo, a wood- 
 bearer. Afterwards, for his strength and tallness, he had 
 wages, and was made a soldier, and afterwards one of tlie 
 captains; he was a valiant man, and for his great virtue 
 and efforts he was called Sfortia. — -MSS. Cotton. Nero. B. vi. 
 
OF FRANCIS TPIE FIRST. 22 
 
 lector of Milan against the invasions of the chap. 
 neighbouring powers, became its master. The ^' 
 emperor, who pretended that the whole terri- 
 tory was a fief of the empire^ and had reverted^ 
 offered to confer on him the investiture on pay- 
 ment of a certain sum. Sforza despised his 
 oifer, and expressed his determination of keep- 
 ing with his sword that which his sword had 
 won. With him the good fortune of his family 
 ended. His son, Galeazzo Maria, was assassi- 
 nated in the cathedral of Milan, during a solemn 
 procession^ at which he assisted in his ducal 
 robes^ partly from motives of personal resent- 
 ment^ and partly from the hatred which his 
 tyranny had excited, {a) That the latter were 
 not without their weight, may be concluded 
 from the demeanour of one of the murderers, 
 a youth of twenty-three years of age^ who, 
 Macchiavelli says^ (b) met his death with un- 
 blenching firmness. Standing on the scaffold, 
 prepared for his fate, the executioner before 
 him with his axe in hand, he said, in Latin, 
 (perche litterato era) " Mors acerba, fama per- 
 petuaj stabit vetus memoria facti.'* Odious as 
 the crime of assassination is under any circum- 
 stances, the lust and cruelty of Galeazzo had 
 provoked the fate which befell him_, (c) and 
 
 (a) Roscoe, Lor. de* Medici, vol. i. p. 171. 
 
 (b) Istoria Fiorent., 1. vii. 
 
 (c) " Era Galeazzo libidinoso e crudele ; delle qual due 
 cose gVi spessi essempi, I'havevano fatto odiosissimo ; perche 
 non solo non gli bastava corrompere le donne nobili, che 
 prendeva ancora piaceredi pubblicarie; ne era conlento fare 
 
24 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, which was at this time too common in Italy to 
 
 I . . 
 
 — '■ — - excite surprise, (a) 
 
 He was succeeded by his sou Giovan Galeazzo, 
 a child only eight years old^ whose infancy gave 
 an opportunity to Ludovico, his uncle, surnamed 
 II Moro, [b) to effect his ambitious scheme of se- 
 curing: to himself the dukedom. He harassed 
 the w idowed duchess, first by intrigues, and then 
 by violence, and having succeeded in getting 
 possession of the young duke's person, is be- 
 lieved to have poisoned him. He had given his 
 niece in marriage to the emperor Maximilian, 
 and had procured from him in return the inves- 
 titure of this duchy as one of the empire's fiefs ; 
 and having thus bolstered up his claim, and 
 
 morire gli huomini, se coq qualche modo crudele non gli am- 
 inazzava." — Mac. 1. vii. 
 
 («) Voltaire, in speaking of this event, says, (vol. iii. p. 
 210.) " Je rapporte cette circonstance, qui ailleurs serait 
 frivole, et qui est ici tres-importante, car les assassins prie- 
 rent Saint Etienne et Saint Ambroise a haute voix de leur 
 donner assez de courage pour assassiner leur souverain, 
 L'empoisonnement, Vassiissinat, joints a la superstition, ca- 
 racterisaient alors les peuples de I'ltalie. lis savaient se 
 venger, et ne savaient guere so battre. On trouvait beau- 
 coup d'empoisonneurs et pen de soldats. Et tel etait le 
 destin de ce beau pays depuis le temps des Othon. De I'es- 
 prit. de la superstition, de I'atheisme, des mascarades, des 
 rers, destrahisons, des devotions, des poisons, des assassinats, 
 quelques grands hommes, un nombre infini de scel^rats ha- 
 biles, et cependant nialheureux, voila ce que fut Italie." 
 
 [b) He had obtained this name, not as has been sometimes 
 imagined, from his complexion, which was rather fair than 
 swarthy, but from his device of a mulberry tree, (moro) 
 which he had adopted as the symbol of prudence. — M^m. de 
 I'Acad. des Belles Lettres, t. xvi. p. 238. 
 
OF FRANCIS TUE FIRST. 25 
 
 secured^ as he believed, the alliance of a powerful ^ "^ ^'• 
 defender, he thoui^ht himself secure in the ill- '. 
 
 gotten possession of JNIilan. 
 
 Louis XII. had taken other precautions be- invasion 
 sides his alliance with the Pope to ensure the quostofthe 
 success of his enterprise. He had entered into 
 a league with the Venetians, who, without the 
 shadow of a pretext, had bargained that they 
 should have possession of the territories beyond 
 the Adda when they should be won. He had 
 repulsed an attack made by the Emperor Maxi- 
 milian on Burgundy, and had compelled that 
 monarchy who loved money better than war^ to 
 forbearance. He composed amicably some dif- 
 ferences which had existed between himself and 
 the Archduke Philip, the son of the emperor, 
 and the father of Charles V. He confirmed the 
 treaties \\hich his father had entered into with 
 Henry VII. of England, and made a new league 
 offensive and defensive with the Swiss cantons, (a) 
 Having thus secured his designs from interrup- 
 tion, he crossed the Alps with a small army, com- 
 manded by Louis de Luxembourg, count de 
 Ligny; by Robert Stuart, seigneur d'Aubigny, 
 who had distinguished himself greatly in the last 
 expedition to Naples, and in the retreat ; and 
 by Giovan Giacopo Trivulzio, w^ho, to great skill 
 and experience in warfare, added the bitterest 
 animosity against Siorza, by whom he had been 
 driven from Milan, his native place. Lndovico 
 sent his treasures and his children to Germanv, 
 
 [a) Le P. Daniel, t. vii. p. 20. 
 
26 ' THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, and upon the approach of this force^ he reth'ed 
 ' thither also himself, having first garrisoned and 
 victualled the fortress of Milan, which was be- 
 lieved to be impregnable, and the defence of 
 which he committed to Bernardino Curtio. In 
 less than twenty days the whole of the Milanese 
 was taken, and the fortress surrendered by the 
 treachery of Curtio, who is said to have fallen a 
 victim to the effects of his tardy repentance, (a) 
 Genoa, divided by its own factions, followed 
 the example of Milan ; and the Venetians took 
 for their share the state of Cremona^ and the dis- 
 trict of Ghiara d'Adda. 
 
 Louis entered ]Milan triumphantly, and clad 
 in the ducal robes, and remained there about 
 three months. He reduced the public imposts, 
 granted possessions and privileges to the nobles^ 
 received deputations from other Italian states, 
 w ith all of whom he made terms ; and after 
 nominating Trivulzio governor of Milan, he left 
 that city and returned to Lyons, having first, in 
 performance of his contract with the Pope, lent 
 to Caesar Borgia a part of his troops, for the 
 purpose of carrying into eftect those designs 
 against the Roman barons, and the independent 
 states which his own and his father's ambitious 
 policy had planned, (b) 
 
 (a) Mezeray. Le P. Daniel, t. vii. p. 27. 
 
 [b] By open violence and by secret intrigue, by courage 
 and by crime, by the boldest enterprises and by the most 
 refined cunning ; in short, by means which would have suf- 
 ficed for the conquest of empires ; Borgia made himself mas- 
 ter of Furli, Faenza, Rimini, Imola, Piouibiuo, Urbino, and 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 27 
 
 Liidovico Sforza^ who had watched whh an chap. 
 anxious eye for an opportunity of returning to ^' 
 Milan, fancied he had found it in tlie thscontent f''o''2f a/- 
 
 •' tempts to 
 
 to which Trivulzio's government had given '''^°'''" ''• 
 rise, (a) He had endeavoured to engage the 
 assistance of Maximilian, and failing in that, he 
 had procured from the Swiss, whose swords 
 were always to be hired, a hasty levy of 8,000 
 men. With this force he made his appearance 
 in the country where his former tyranny had 
 been forgotten in the more oppressive domina- 
 tion of the French. The cities of the Milanese 
 welcomed him, and a few days convinced Louis 
 that his recent conquest was very insecure. La 
 Tremouille was sent to repair the faults which 
 Trivulzio had committed. The armies met at 
 Navarra^ of which the citadel was in the hands of 
 the French, while the town was in the possession 
 
 other states. He destroyed the most powerful of his ene- 
 mies, either in open conflict or by the more fatal offer of 
 his friendship. Treachery, so black, that to think of it 
 makes the heart of man sicken ; crimes, so repugnant to 
 human nature, that, but for the positive evidence of history, 
 it were impossible to believe them ; marked the progress of 
 this scourge to the land in which he was born, and made him 
 the fitting instrument of the designs of Alexander VI. — 
 Guicciardini, 1. iv. 
 
 («) The appointment of Trivulzio, who had many old in- 
 juries to avenge, was extremely injudicious ; and had the 
 efl'ect of keeping Milan in a state of constant disorder. Be- 
 sides the severity with which Trivulzio treated all such of the 
 people as were of the Ghibeline party, (he himself belonging 
 to the opposite faction of the Guelfs,) he had excited general 
 disgust, by having slain, witli his own hand, several of the 
 rioters in a popular tumult. — Le P. Daniel, t. vii. p. 32. 
 
28 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, of Liidovico and his Swiss levies. The French 
 '. general, who had learnt by experience the man- 
 ner in which the Swiss were best to be dealt with, 
 and ^>ho knew it was better to bribe than to fight 
 with them, proposed terms which they immedi- 
 ately accepted ; and at the very moment when 
 Ludovico was preparing himself to encounter 
 the hazard upon which he had set his life and 
 fortunes, he was infonned that his Swiss troops 
 would not fight against their countrymen, who 
 were enrolled under the French banners. Re- 
 monstrance was useless ; they had begun their 
 march, and all that he could obtain from them, 
 was permission to follow in their ranks in the dis- 
 is betrayed guisc of a coiiimon soldieT. He who had so often 
 Swiss. betrayed others, was now in his turn to become 
 the victim of treachery. As he marched on to 
 Navarra, in the Swiss ranks, some significant 
 gestures of the soldiers discovered him to his 
 enemies. He was seized and transported, first 
 to Pierre en Seise, and afterwards to the castle 
 of Loches, where lie remained a prisoner until 
 his death, which happened ten years afterwards. 
 The revolt of the Milanese was punished, but 
 without any extraordinary cruelty, and tranquil- 
 lity seemed to be restored to this part of Italy. 
 Louis joins Louis was not how^ever disposed to stop here, 
 i^i'^an ar"^ aud tlic objcct for which he had begun the war 
 NapieT" being accomphshed, he turned his thoughts to 
 the acquisition of Naples, or, if that should 
 fail, at least to the preventing its being annexed 
 to the crown of Spain. Ferdinand, the Catholic^ 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 20 
 
 and whOj as Voltaire says, might be more truly chap. 
 
 called the Perfidious, proposed to him that they '. 
 
 should join their forces for the purpose of in- 
 vading Naples, and divide the prize between 
 them. Louis listened to this proposition, and 
 accordingly a French and Spanish army, the 
 one commanded by Louis d'Armagnac, duke de 
 Nemours, and byd'Aubis^nv, and the other bv the 
 Great Captain, attacked that unfortunate king- 
 dom. Frederick, its monarch, whhdrew from 
 it almost Avithout an attempt to repel the inva- 
 sion, and threw himself upon the compassion of 
 Louis, resigning to him that part of his domi- 
 nion which the French king had already, by his 
 treaty with Ferdinand, appropriated to himself. 
 Louis, in return, gave him the county of Maine, 
 and assigned liim an annual pension of 30,000 
 crowns, which was punctually paid to him even 
 after the French were driven out of Italv. Bv 
 virtue of their treaty Louis was to have Naples 
 and the Abruzzi, and Ferdinand, Apulia and 
 Calabria ; but in the ensuing year a dis})ute 
 having arisen respecting the Capitanate, which 
 the French insisted was a part of the Abruzzi, 
 and the Spaniards would have considered as a 
 part of Apulia, and \a hich w as a desirable object 
 on account of the toll paid for cattle which w^re 
 brought to graze upon that district during the 
 winter, the Spaniards made use of it to com- 
 mence a war. («) By means of the archduke 
 Philip a treaty for the purpose of composing 
 
 (a) Mezeray, p. 537. 
 
30 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, this quarrel, was soon afterwards entered into, 
 — '. — by which it was contracted that the king's 
 eldest daughter, Claude, should become bride of 
 Charles of Luxembourg, afterwards Charles V., 
 and that Ferdinand should resign Calabria and 
 Apulia, and Louis, the kingdom of Naples, in 
 favour of the affianced parties, [a) Louis sent 
 word to his generals to desist from all further 
 hostilities, which they immediately obeyed, but 
 Gonsalvo, either acting on his own authority, or, 
 as was rather believed, upon secret instructions 
 from Ferdinand, attacked the French leaders 
 as soon as they were effectually put off their 
 guard. D'Aubigny was defeated by Antonio da 
 Leyva at Seminara, on Friday, the 1st of April, 
 1503. 1503, and escaped with difficulty to the rock 
 
 Battles of n A. 'j. 1 i i i ZV ■» 
 
 Seminara oi Augitola, wheic howcvcr he was atterwaras 
 «oia. ^"^ made prisoner, {b) On the following Friday 
 Gonsalvo came to an engagement with the gal- 
 lant duke de Nemours, who in his eagerness to 
 punish the Spanish general's flagrant perfidy, 
 forgot the dictates of prudence, and attacked 
 him in a post so advantageous to the latter, that 
 he lost but nine of his men, while the duke's 
 army was wholly defeated, (c) In this battle, 
 
 (a) Mezeray. Le P. Daniel, t. vii. p. 56. 
 
 (b) Guicciardini, 1. v. 
 
 (c) Guicciardini, in relating this battle, gives an instance 
 of that readiness and self-possession for which Gonsalvo 
 was so eminently distinguished, and which gave him so 
 great an influence over his army. Either by accident or by 
 design, the ammunition of the Spaniards took fire, Gonsalvo 
 welcomed the omen and turned it to his own advantage by 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 31 
 
 which took place at Cerignola, in Apulia, the chap. 
 duke de Nemours, who Avas a descendant of ^'__ 
 
 Charibert, son of Clotaire XI. [a) and the last of 
 the family of Arniagnac, fell, and with him 4,000 
 Frenchmen. These two disastrous days are sup- 
 posed to have given rise to the notion which 
 the common people of France entertain that 
 Friday is a day of evil influence ; ^\h\\e the Spa- 
 niards, with no less superstition, are accustomed 
 to consider it as a fortunate one. (6) Gonsalvo 
 marched J immediately after these victories, to 
 Naples ; the French troops shut themselves up 
 in the fortresses, which were, how ever, taken by 
 mine, and fell, together with Capua and Aversa, 
 into the hands of the Spanish general. 
 
 Louis, not less indignant at the treachery Louis di- 
 
 rects an 
 
 which had been practised against him, than army 
 mortified at the defeat which his arms had sus- Naples. 
 tainedj prepared to avenge himself. He raised 
 three armies ; the first and the largest of which 
 was commanded by La Tremoille, and was des- 
 tined to the recovery of Naples ; the second, at 
 the head of which were placed Jean d^Albret 
 and the marechal de Gie, received orders to make 
 an irruption into Fontarabia ; and the third, 
 under the direction of the marechal de Rieux, 
 was to cause a diversion by invading Roussillon. 
 In addition to these, a powerful fleet was equip- 
 
 crying, " The day is our's ! heaven promises us the victory, 
 and the token of it is, that we shall have no need of our ar- 
 tillery."— Lib. V. p. 303. 
 
 (a) Renault, Abrege Chron., t. i, p. 344. 
 
 [b) Guicciardini, 1. v. p. 303. 
 
32 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP 
 I. 
 
 ped and sent to sea for the pui'pose of doing as 
 much mischief as might be to the Spanish coast 
 on the Mediterranean, and to assist the opera- 
 tions of the army in Naples by cutting off sup- 
 pUes from Spain, {a) This plan, which was 
 wisely laid, was destined to fail of its execution. 
 The fleet returned to the port of Marseilles, 
 having performed nothing more useful than a 
 cruize upon the Spanish coast ; the Fontarabian 
 army was disbanded, owing to the dissensions 
 of its leaders ; and the expedition into Rous- 
 sillon was consequently useless. The progress 
 of the army directed against Naples \\ as retarded 
 by various causes. It was not, at first, easy to 
 gain the permission of the Pope and his son 
 that they should pass through his territories ; 
 and to attempt the passage without that per- 
 mission would liave been too hazardous. This 
 being gained, la Tremoille fell sick, and his 
 command was assumed by Carlo Gonzagua, 
 marquis of Mantua, who neither possessed the 
 confidence of the king nor of his troops ; and 
 when, at last, the army had nearly reached 
 Rome, the death of Alexander VI. caused them 
 to be detained there to favour the intrigues of 
 the cardinal d' Amboise, who aspired to the tiara. 
 This unlucky combination of events produced 
 the failure of a design which, in the outset, had 
 every reasonable prospect of success. 
 1503. The cause of the death of Alexander VI. has 
 
 Alexander been related in two ways utterly at variance with 
 
 VI. -^ -^ 
 
 (rt) Mezeray, p. 540. Le P. Daniel, t. vii. p. 80. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 33 
 
 each other. The one account is, that the Pope chap. 
 
 was attacked bv a fever on the 12tli of Ausust, 
 
 that on the 16th he was bled^ and the dis- 
 order seemed to become tertian ; on the 1 7th 
 he took medicine ; but on the 18th he became 
 so ill that his life was despaired of. lie then 
 received the viaticum during mass, which was 
 celebrated in his chamber, and at which five car- 
 dinals assisted. In the evening extreme unction 
 was administered to him, and soon afterwards 
 he died.(rt) The other, and the account which 
 is more commonlv believed, is that which is 
 g-iven by Guicciardini, [b) who says, that " the 
 Pope having gone to sup in a garden near the 
 Vatican, to enjoy the coolness of the evening 
 air, (it being then the middle of August,) was 
 brought home to the pontifical palace dead^ and 
 his son immediately afterwards, seemingly in 
 the like condition. On the following day, the 
 18th of Augustj the Pope's corpse was, according 
 to the established usage, borne into the Clmrch 
 of St. Petei% when his face appeared blacky 
 swollen^ and hideouslv convulsed : manifest 
 signs of poison, by which means it was generally 
 believed that his fate had been brouglit about, 
 and the common story ran that it happened in 
 this manner : That U Valentino, (Caesar Borgiis) 
 who was of the paj ty at supper, had determined 
 
 (a) Burchard, Diar. ap. Notices de la Bibliotbequo du 
 Roi, vol. i. p. 118, quoted by Mr. Roscoe, Leo X., vv\. i. 
 p. 549. 
 
 [h) Guicciardini, 1. vi. p. 314. 
 
 VOL. I. D 
 
34 ' THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 I. 
 
 to poison Adriano, cardinal di Corneto, in 
 whose garden they were entertained ; and it 
 was a fact^ perfectly notorious, that it had been 
 his own and his father^s frequent practice^ not 
 only to resort to that expedient for the purpose 
 of at once avenointr themselves on their ene- 
 mies, and avoiding suspicion, but also^ out of 
 their detestable desire to appropriate to them- 
 selves the possessions of wealthy persons, as well 
 cardinals as others about the court, and without 
 considering whether they had received an}^ of- 
 fence from them, (as in the case of the very rich 
 cardinal St. Angelo^) but even if they were on 
 the most intimate and friendly terms ; and al- 
 though some of their victims, as the cardinals 
 of Capua and Modena, had been their most ser- 
 viceable and devoted ministers. He (Caesar) . 
 having procured certain flasks of wine in which 
 poison had been infused, committed them to 
 the care of a servant who knew nothing of the 
 scheme, with orders not to part with them to any 
 one. By chance, the Pope was the first who 
 arrived at the garden in which they were to sup^ 
 and being thirsty and exhausted by the heat of 
 the weather, and knowing nothing of the con- 
 tents of the flasks, asked for some wine. The 
 provision for the supper had not yet been brought 
 from the palace, and the servant to whose care 
 the poisoned bottles had been entiusted, think- 
 ing that the wine which II Valentino had 
 given him was of a rare quality^, poured out a 
 goblet of it. The Pope drank, and A alentino. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 35 
 
 who arrived at this moment, took some of it chap. 
 also.'^ '. 
 
 In favom' of each of these statements there is 
 a certain body of evidence, and each of them is 
 supported by arguments of such weight, as well 
 as ingenuity, as to leave the matter one of those 
 doubtful points of history on which it is easier 
 to form an opinion than to vindicate its ac- 
 curacy. («) 
 
 Borgia's ilhiess at the time of his father's 
 death prevented his becoming an actor in the 
 busy scenes that ensued. A dissension arose in 
 Rome between the houses of the l^rsini, who 
 would have wreaked their old vengeance on him 
 in his defenceless state, and of the Colonni, 
 whose fidelity to him, as it then seemed, was not 
 to be shaken either by his crimes or by the des- 
 
 [a] Mr. Roscoe, whose profound research entitles his 
 opinions on all matters connected with Italian history to great 
 attention and respect, inclines to think that Alexander's death 
 was occasioned by a fever, under which Caesar Borgia also 
 laboured ; or that if he really died by poison, it was ad- 
 ministered by some of the numerous enemies whom his vio- 
 lence and rapacity had incited to revenge. Burchard and 
 the diligent Muratori are powerful adherents on this side of 
 the question. Voltaire, whose acuteness can never be doubted, 
 although his accuracy may often be impeached, adopts the 
 same opinion, and maintains it with great ingenuity. On 
 the other side, the relations of Paulus Jovius, of Bembo, 
 of Guicciardini, and other historians who lived so near the 
 period at which this event took place, that it is surprising 
 they could have mistaken, and difficult to believe th.it they 
 would have misstated, a matter, the truth or falsehood of 
 which must have been then notorious, are extremely circum- 
 stantial. 
 
 d2 
 
36 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 I. 
 
 perate plight into which his fortunes had fallen. 
 The cardinal d*Amboise took advantage of the 
 terror this tumult had occasioned among the 
 cardinals, to offer them the protection of the 
 French troops, which were at hand, on condi- 
 tion that they would elect him Pope; and he 
 might have succeeded in his design but for Giu- 
 liano delta Rovere, cardinal of San Pietro in 
 Vincula^ who persuaded him to give up that 
 which constituted his real strength^ and to send 
 away the French soldiery. Francesco Piccolo- 
 minij cardinal of Sienna, was then elected Pope, 
 ekcrd"* ^1^^'^'' the appellation of Pius III. ; but, dying at 
 Pope. the end of four weeks, left the see again vacant, 
 when the intrio-ues of the cardinal San Pietro 
 were crowned with success, and, as Julius II., 
 he assumed the pontificate, while the cardinal 
 d^Amboise had the dissfrace and mortification of 
 seeing his ow n hopes of the tiara defeated, and of 
 having frustrated his king's design upon Naples. 
 Defeat of Thc fatc of thc army destined to accomplish 
 
 the French , -^ ^ 
 
 atGarig- this entcrpHse was most disastrous. The French 
 troops marched on to the Garigliano, which the 
 rainy season had so swollen that it was impass- 
 able. The marquis of Mantua threw a bridge 
 over the river^ and transported his cannon, in 
 the very teeth of Gonsalvo, who did not venture 
 to oppose him ; and at first all seemed to go 
 favourably with his forces. Dissensions, how- 
 ever, broke out in the French camp ; the captains 
 quarrelled with each other, and paid little obe- 
 dience to their general, either because, as Guic- 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 37 
 
 ciardini says, such was the common practice of chap. 
 
 the French soldiers towards Itahan commanders, '- 
 
 or because they doubted his loyalty. He was 
 accused of omitting to attack the Spaniards 
 when a favourable opportunity had presented 
 itselfj and even of holding some communication 
 with the enemy's general. The marquis of 
 Mantua withdrew under the pretence of sick- 
 ness, and the command then devolved upon the 
 marquis di Saluzzo ; but these quarrels had 
 wasted the time ^^ hich should have been spent m 
 action. Gonsalvo remained in his camp close at 
 hand, and compelled the French army to winter 
 in a very uncomfortable and unwholesome dis- 
 trict ; (a) while the malpractices of the commis- 
 saries, " to whom,'^ says Mezeray^ " the ruin of 
 armies is profitable,'' completed the disasters of 
 their situation. (6) At length, the arrival of 
 
 (a) Guicciardini, lib. vi. p. 328. Mezeray, p. 541. 
 
 [b] At a later period, the malpractices of the commissioners 
 were exposed to Louis XII. by Louis d'Hedouville, one of 
 the survivors of this campaign. ** ' Quarante jours durant,' 
 dit-il, 'nous avons vu les ennemis devant nous, et les volcurs 
 derriere. Au retour, ces impitoyables maltotiers ont refus6 
 d'aider les miserables soldats, et ont retenu meme leur paie. 
 A present ils triomphent de nos calamil^s ; et se montrent 
 hardiment a la cour, dont ils voudroient nous bannir : nous 
 portons sur nos corps dechiquetes, et sur nos visages haves 
 et dess^ches, les teraoig-nages de nos vols.' Le monarque 
 r^pondit en soupirant : * Helas ! il est trop vrai.' En con- 
 sequence de la denonciation, deux de ces avides financiers fu- 
 rent pendus, d'autres exposes sur les echafauds a la risee et 
 aux insultes de la populace, un grand nombre taxes a les 
 amendes applicables au soulagement des capitaines et soldats 
 qui revenoient de cette malheureus^ expedition." — Anquetil, 
 Hisloire de France, t. vi. p. 11. 
 
38 
 
 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. d^Alviano with a considerable force, induced 
 I. . 
 
 ' Gonsalvo to depart from the cautious and ha- 
 rassing; system he had hitherto pursued,, and to 
 come to a general engagement with the French 
 army. On the 29th of December^ 1503, and 
 on a Friday, (that day deemed so fatal to the 
 French, so auspicious to the Spanish arms,) 
 d^Alviano attacked the first bridge and carried 
 itj and the Great Captain coming upon the rear 
 with the forces he had brought across the river 
 by another bridge which he had constructed^ 
 wholly routed the French, pursued such as fled 
 into Gaeta, which they wTre afterwards obliged 
 to surrender, and ultimately obtained such a 
 victory as altogether frustrated the design upon 
 Naples^ and reduced that kingdom under the 
 dominion of Spain. 
 Gallantry Souie actious of ludividual gallantry on the 
 La Paiice/ part of thc Freucli leaders were all that re- 
 ' mained to console them under their disgrace, 
 and to convince the world that their defeat was 
 owing rather to ill fortune than to their want of 
 courage. The chevalier Bayard kept the bridge 
 over the Garigliano single-handed against two 
 hundred Spaniards, with a courage and success 
 Avhich seem to be almost miraculous, [a) The 
 
 [a] An attack was made by the Spaniards upon the 
 bridge, at which " the good knight, always anxious to be 
 near the scene of action, had stationed himself hard by, 
 with a bold gentleman, one Pierre do Tardes, surnamed Le 
 Basque, equerry to King Louis XII. These two began to 
 arm when they heard thc noise, (whether or not they were 
 soon equipped and mounted need is not to inquire,) intent on 
 flying to the spot wliere the fray was taking place. Bui 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 39 
 
 marcchal de la Palice, who had shut hiniseU' up chap. 
 in the little town of Rovero, repulsed in person ' 
 three attacks which were made upon the outer 
 wall^ and being' at length precipitated into the 
 moat^ and overcome bj^ numbers,, threw his 
 sword as far away from him as possible, to 
 avoid the disgrace of surrendering. Gonsalvo 
 caused him to be led to the foot of the breach^ 
 for the purpose of inducing the garrison to 
 yield ; and La Palice took that opportunity of 
 
 when the good knight looks on the other side of the river, 
 he spies about two hundred Spanish horse coming straight to- 
 ward (he bridge to get possession of it ; which they would have 
 done without finding much resistance, and thereby caused the 
 total destruction of the French army. So he said to his compa- 
 nion : ' Master Equerry, my friend, go quickly, or we are all 
 ruined; I will endeavour to hold the enemy in play till you 
 come back ; but make haste.' He obeyed ; and the good 
 knight, grasping his spear, goes to the end of the bridge, 
 which the Spaniards on the other side were already preparing 
 to pass; but he put his lance in the rest, and, like a furious 
 lion, charged the troop, who were now in the very act of 
 crossing, so that three or four were staggered ; whereof two 
 fell into the water, and never rose more, the stream being 
 large and deep. That done, much work was cut out for him, 
 he being so fiercely assaulted, that, without exceeding good 
 horsemanship, he could not have resisted. But, like a chafed 
 tiger, he threw himself against the rail of the bridge that the 
 enemy might not get behind him, and defended himself so 
 well with the sword, that the Spaniards were confounded, 
 and thought he must be a fiend, not a man. In short, he 
 held out so well and so long, that he gave not up till the 
 equerry, Le Basque, brought him a considerable reinforce- 
 ment, namely, one hundred gendarmes, who, on their arri- 
 val, forced the Spaniards to abandon the bridge entirely, and 
 pursued them a mile beyond," — Mem. du Chev, Bayard, 
 chap. XXV. 
 
40 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 I. 
 
 exhorthig' them to hold out. {a) Louis d^Ai^f 
 who was a follower of the prince de Ligny, was 
 desirous, after the total defeat of the French 
 at Garig'liano, to preserve, if it were possible, 
 those lands in the Neapolitan territory which 
 belonged to the prince in right of his wife ; 
 and with this view retired to Venosa, which 
 he resolved to maintain, and which he kept 
 for a year against the attacks of d'Alviano, 
 whom Gonsalvo sent against him. D'Ars then 
 informed the kino: that he was in want of sue- 
 cour; upon which Louis, who was unable to 
 relieve him^ bade him capitulate as well as he 
 might. He obeyed reluctantly^ but upon such 
 teniis as might well gild the shame of a defeat. 
 He marched liis soldiers out of the citadel with 
 all the appointments of war ; and, with no other 
 means of defence than such as their own true wea- 
 pons and indomitable valour supplied, he carried 
 his little troop safely through a hostile country, 
 surrounded on all hands by active enemies, and 
 brought them to Blois, where the court was, and 
 where they \vere received with the honours they 
 deserved, (b) 
 
 [a) Anquetil, t. vi. p. 13. 
 
 [b] "11 en part, il s'en retouriie, passe par le Milan de tout 
 le Royaume de Naples, et de toute I'ltalie, luy ot tous ses 
 gens, la lance sur la cuisse, arm6 de toutes pieces ; tient les 
 champs, et vit a discretion, et de gre a gre, par-tout o^ il 
 lege; marche tousjours en forme de guerre, rapporte sa vie 
 €t son honneur, de luy et de ses compagnons, leurs bdgues 
 et leurs butiiis sauves ; rentre ainsi en France, avec grande 
 admiration de tout le raonde : vint jusques a Blois, en tel 
 ordre, faire la reverence au Roy son maistre, et a la reyue 
 
01'^ FRANCIS THE FIRST. 41 
 
 CHAP. 
 I. 
 
 The days of Borgia's prosperity were ended. 
 Julius li., who had at first pretended to treat 
 
 h.^, • 1 j' •11' Borinasent 
 
 im with some consideration^ soon required nun a prisoner 
 
 to give up the states of Homagna ; and^ for the andciies."' 
 purpose of enforcing this demand, seized his 
 person. A change of fortune brought with it a 
 change in the faith of his adherents. His kin- 
 dred^ friends, and allies dropped from him, 
 every one abandoned liiiii^ and he was betrayed 
 with as little remorse as it had cost him to betray 
 others. He yielded to the storm w hich he could 
 not withstand ; promised to resign his dominions 
 according to the pontiff's request ; announced 
 his intention of going to France^ and procured a 
 passport from Goii salvo, who received him at 
 Naples with a show of so great cordiality^ that 
 Borgia's ambition began once more to raise its 
 head. He ^\as preparing an armament for an 
 attack on Pisa, when Ferdinand, whose fears he 
 had excited^ ordered Gonsalvo to seize and send 
 him a prisoner to Spain. These orders^ notwith- 
 standing that Borgia was in the sacred character 
 of his guest^ and that he was protected by Goii- 
 salvo's own passport, the Great Captain unhesitat- 
 ingly executed, under circumstances of dissimula- 
 tion which made his perfidy the more detestable. 
 Borgia was ready to depart with his armed galleys 
 on the followino- dav ; he went in the evenino' to 
 
 sa maistresse, qui liiy firent tel honneur de le voir ainsi arriver 
 en si bel arroy, qu'apres Iny avoir faite bonne chere, et grand 
 honneur, et a ses compagnons, ne se furent saouler de loiier 
 sa valeur et vertu, et de luy et d'eux, et les r^compenser.'' — 
 Brantome, t. vi. p. 121. 
 
42 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, yigjt Gonsaivo, who held a loiiij: convei'satioii 
 
 I. . . . 
 '- with hinij bade him farewell^ and embraced him 
 
 on his departure ; but as soon as he had quitted 
 the chamber he was seized by Gonsalvo^s guards, 
 put on board a galley^ and conveyed to Spain, 
 where he remained a prisoner for the space of 
 two years in the castle of Medina del Campo, (a) 
 wlien he escaped from prison, and sought refuge 
 with his wife's brother, Jean d'Albret^ in whose 
 service he met his death before the walls of Vi- 
 ana, a small fortress which he was besieging, (b) 
 The miscarriage of his designs inflicted a bit- 
 ter mortification upon the French king. He 
 had lost a fine army, and had wasted much trea- 
 sure to no other purpose than that of swelling 
 the triumph of the crafty Ferdinand. His do- 
 mestic affairs were also a source of great care 
 and anxiety to him. The rivalry between his 
 queen and Louise of Savoy had manifested it- 
 self so plainly, that neither of them hesitated to 
 express her animosity against the other. The 
 two sons which had been borne by the queen 
 
 (a) Guicciardini, 1. vi. p. 339. Ibid. 1. vii. p. 370. 
 
 [b) " Le courage qui n'est pas une verUi, mais une qualite 
 heureuse, commune au scelerats et aux grands homraes, ne 
 Tabandorma pas dans son exile. II ne quitta en rien son ca- 
 ractere ; il intrigua ; il commanda I'armee du roi de Na- 
 varre, son beau-frere, dans une guerre qu'il conseilla pour 
 deposseder les vassaux de la Navarre comme il avait autre- 
 fois d^possede les vassaux de I'Empire, et du Saint-Siege. 
 II fut tue, les armes a la main. Sa mort fut glorieuse ; et 
 nous voyons dans le cours de cette histoirc des souverains 
 legitimes, et des liommes vcrlueux perir par la main des 
 bourreaux.'' — Volt., t. iii. p. 24;). 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 43 
 
 had died in their infancy ; Francis was the heir ^I'^p. 
 presumptive to the throne, and neither of the ' 
 princesses could hope to ascend it but by means 
 of a marriage vvith him. The countess d'Angou- 
 leme, by secret intrigue and by open insult, added 
 to the bitterness of the queen's disappointment, 
 and confirmed her dislike. Parties were formed 
 in the court, and the respective adherents of the 
 rival ladies displayed no more moderation than 
 their principals. 
 
 The queen v\as intitled to Brittany in her own Louis xi.s 
 riglit, and influenced, perliaps^ by the desire ^ ""^* 
 Avhich she avowed of giving to that province an 
 independent governor, but more probably ac- 
 tuated by her hatred of Louise, she endeavoured 
 to negociate a marriage for her eldest daughter 
 Claude with the duke of Luxembourg, one of 
 the conditions of which was, that Brittany 
 should form a part of the princess's dowry. 
 The king, on the other hand, wished^, because it 
 was for the interest of his kingdom, that so va- 
 luable a possession as Brittany should not be 
 severed from the crown of France, and that his 
 elJest daughter should become the wife of Fran- 
 cis, now universally considered the next heir to 
 his tlirone. His affection for the queen, as well 
 as the habit in ^vhich he had indulged her of 
 managing all that related to Brittany, almost 
 without his interference, prevented him from 
 openly checking her, and a prudent desire to 
 avoid inflaming a rivalry which was already car- 
 ried beyond the bounds of propriety, confirmed 
 
44 
 
 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, i^iy^ -j^ j^jg forbearance. But his health sank 
 
 '. under the irritation and disappointments which 
 
 a concurrence of untoward events occasioned 
 him, and he was seized with an indisposition 
 which threatened to prove mortal. 
 The queen Thc qucen, Avho, notwithstanding' some hu- 
 
 preparesto ^ ^ i • i i 
 
 retire into mail weaKuesses^ was an extremely amiable per- 
 butisp're- son^ and strongly attached to her husband, at- 
 tended him in his sickness with the most anxious 
 and affectionate solicitude. His malady, however^ 
 increased ; he was given over by his physicians ; 
 and then the queen, who could not brook the 
 idea of being second to her insulting rivals which 
 was too likely to happen when Francis should 
 have mounted the throne, began to take mea- 
 sures for w ithdrawing into Brittany. She caused 
 her jewels and other valuable effects to be put 
 on board some boats which were to sail down 
 the Loire to Nantes. The marechal de Gie, who 
 had been appointed the governor of Francis, 
 and commandant of Anjou, and who ^vas also 
 an adherent of the countess of Angouleme, to 
 whose hand he had, it was said, once ventured 
 to aspire, laid an embargo on the boats, and 
 had taken measures for stopping the queen if she 
 The king should attempt to quit the kino^dom. The kinsf, 
 however^ recovered ; and the hrst use the queen 
 made of the additional influence ^^hich her 
 care of him in his illness had given her^ was 
 to procure the arrest of the marechal de Gie 
 on a charge of lese majeste ; for which accusa- 
 tion he had furnis^hed some ground, by reason 
 
 recovers. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 45 
 
 of certain hasty expressions which he had let chap. 
 
 fall. !l_ 
 
 The kinff referred the cause to the parliament TnaUnd 
 
 ^ ^ ^ ... . disgrace of 
 
 of I'oulouse, the administration of which was ♦'»« mare- 
 
 chal de 
 
 considered to be the most rigorous in the king- cie. 
 dom. The real offence which the accused had 
 given was kept out of sight, and the main part 
 of the charge appeared to be, that he had in- 
 dulged in indecent sarcasms upon the king's 
 weak compliance with his wife's will^ and upon 
 some state abuses. The witnesses against him^ 
 who consisted for the most part of persons with 
 whom he had been in habits of unreserved inti- 
 macy, deposed to his having used expressions, 
 which, uttered perhaps in moments of gaiety, 
 and without any serious meaning, were now 
 collected in support of an accusation that af- 
 fected his life. Confronted with these witnesses, 
 the marechal treated them with great disdain^ 
 and denied their charges, {a) The countess 
 d'Angouleme herself gave evidence very unfa- 
 vourable to him, and evinced that rancorous 
 
 [a] Pontbriant, Chamberlain of the Duke de Valois at the 
 castle of Amboise, which was charged to have been the scene 
 of Gie's outrageous discourse, stipulated beforehand that the 
 marechal should abstain from any expressions which, as a 
 gentleman, he could not brook. The marechal promised ; 
 but when he had heard his depositions — " 11 ne put se con- 
 tenir, et s'ecria que Pontbriant avoit fausscment et mau~ 
 vaisement menti. En vain le pria-t-on de souffrir que sa 
 reponse f^t ecrite en termes plus menages. // ne merite 
 pas d'etre mieux trait e, dit-il, c''est un franc hypocrite, un 
 disciir de patenotres ; il en dit plus qu'un Cordelier, et m'a 
 voulu donner un tour de cordon^ — Anquetil, t. vi. p. 5. 
 
46 - THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, temper which afterwards developed itself so 
 
 • '- — cruelly and so fatally for France^ with a view, as 
 
 it was beUeved, of avenging some excesses which 
 the marechal had committed in his former cha- 
 racter of her suitor. In replying to the depo- 
 sitions of the countess^ the marechal conducted 
 himself with great adroitness. He laid aside all 
 his ferocity, and without alluding to the obvious 
 fact, that his present accusation arose out of a 
 desire to serve her and her cause, and without 
 seeming to insinuate a reproach^ he said to her, 
 " Si j'avois toujours servi Dieu, comme je vous 
 ai servi, Mad ame,je n'aurois pas grande compte 
 a rendre a la mort/^ He respectfully denied 
 some of the charges against him^ put a favour- 
 able interpretation upon such as he was com- 
 pelled to admits and with respect to the insult- 
 ing language which he was accused of having- 
 used concerning the queen, he said he had no 
 recollection of ever having done so^ and that he 
 should have been ashamed to apply such ex- 
 pressions to any lady in the kingdom, however 
 humble her condition might be. When he was 
 called upon to name the witnesses for his de- 
 fence, he gave in a long' list, at the head of which 
 was the king, next the Cardinal d'Amboise, the 
 chief minister^ and then a number of inaccessi- 
 ble persons, governors of remote places, minis- 
 ters abroad on missions, officers who were with 
 the army in Italy, and prisoners who might per- 
 haps never return. This device, which was 
 resorted to only for the sake of dela} , would 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 47 
 
 have put off the decision of the cause for an chap. 
 
 almost interminable period, but that the queen '. 
 
 insisted upon a sentence^ which, when it was 
 pronounced^ acquitted the marechal of lese 
 majeste, but deprived him of his office as go- 
 vernor of the young prince, of his castles of 
 Amboise and Angers, and of his company of 
 gendarmes, and suspended him for hve years 
 from his office as marechal of France. The 
 marechal retired to Anjou^ where he lived in 
 great splendour^ in the full enjoyment of his 
 pleasures ; and caring little for the cabal which 
 had been raised against him. (c/) 
 
 Ferdinand, in the mean time^ was not quite 
 at ease respecting his Neapolitan acquisitions ; 
 and, fearing that Louis might take up the 
 cause of Frederic, the despoiled monarch of that 
 kingdom, who, then a fugitive in the French 
 court, had yet many partizans in the states of 
 Naples hostile to the government of Spain, sent 
 ambassadors to Louis to propose a treaty of 
 peace. The same ambassadors had secret in- 
 structions to offer to Frederic the treacherous 
 assistance of the deceitful Spaniard. Louis pe- 
 netrated his scheme : he gave an audience to 
 the ambassadors^ at which he indignantly re- 
 proached them with their monarch's disgraceful 
 perfidy^ and ordered them to depart from his 
 kingdom on the instant, (b) 
 
 {a) Anquetil, torn. vi. p. 11. 
 
 [b) The ambassadors returned to Spain apprehensive of 
 their master's rage, when he should hear from their mouths 
 
48 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. Yj^g queeiij whom nothing could divert from 
 
 '- — her project in respect to Brittany, had been for 
 
 The treaty soHic time scd'etly engaged in negotiations re- 
 ofBiois. gpecting the marriage of her eldest daughter 
 with the young duke of Luxembourg, («) son 
 of the archduke Philip^ who opened a negotia- 
 tion with Louis, which led to the treaty of 
 Blois, (22d September, 1504,) in which the em- 
 peror Maximilian, at the request of his son the 
 archduke, became a party. By that treaty it 
 was stipulated that the lady Claude should be 
 given in marriage to the young duke of Lux- 
 embourg, whom fate had destined for France^s 
 most formidable and implacable enemy^ with 
 the dnchy of Brittany on her mother's death, 
 and the present possession of the counties of 
 Ast, Boulogne, and Blois^ the patrimony of 
 the house of Orleans, which Louis had agreed 
 to give up to his daughter. 
 
 A treaty more fatal to the hopes of Francis 
 could hardly have been contemplated. The 
 lady Claude^ who had been long talked of as 
 his destined bride, was to be given to a stranger 
 to the country and crown, and his future realm 
 was by the same means to have been dismem- 
 bered of some of its most valuable possessions, 
 upon which the safety of the kingdom in a 
 great degree depended. In return for this, 
 
 that Louis accused him of having- twice cheated him. 
 "Twice!" replied the shameless traitor: "the drunkard 
 lies : 1 have cheated him more than ten times." 
 (a) Varillas, Histoire de Francois I., t. i. p. 7. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 49 
 
 the emperor ^vas to grant the investiture of the chap. 
 
 duchy of Milan to Louis and his heirs, and in '. 
 
 default of issue to the heirs of the lady Claude, 
 a concession merely nominal, and one which 
 could not make his title a jot the better to a 
 possession which could only be maintained by 
 the sw ord. It was stipulated besides, that if the 
 projected marriage should not take place through 
 any default on the part of France, all claim to 
 13uigundy, and all interest that might be ac- 
 quired in Milan, should be ceded to the duke 
 of Luxembourg" ; but, if the failure should be 
 occasioned by the house of Austria, then that 
 Charolois, Artois, and the adjacent seignories 
 should for the future belong to France, (a) 
 
 At the same time was laid the foundation for 
 a league between the Pope, the emperor, and 
 Louis, against VenicCj the prosperity of which 
 state, not less than the insolence and want of 
 faith she had displayed, had made all the neigh- 
 bouring nations her covert or avowed enemies. 
 The vigilant countess of Angouleme w as not 
 likely to let a treaty so injurious to her own 
 and her son's interests as that of Blois pass un- 
 opposed : but events^ were at hand which frus- 
 trated the projects of her opponents much more 
 effectually than she or her party could have 
 done. The king had scarcely performed homage, 
 by his envoy, to the emperor for the fruitless in- 
 vestiture of Milan, when he was attacked by a 
 malady, similar to that under which he had la- 
 la) Le P. Daniel, t. vii. p. 105. Anqiietil, t. vi. p. 22. 
 VOL. I. E 
 
50 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, boured in the preceding year, and which threat- 
 
 1__ ened to terminate his existence. D'Amboise, 
 
 Jgdn^faHs the ablest of the advisers of the crown, who, if 
 *^' he had ever seriously intended to agree to the 
 
 treaty of Blois, iiad by this time become con- 
 vinced of its danger and impropriety, absolved 
 the king from the engagement to keep it, and 
 procured him to make a will, to which in that 
 conjuncture even the queen did not object, 
 by which he directed that his daughter Claude 
 should be married to the count d^Angouleme 
 as soon as their years should permit, and ap- 
 pointed his queen and the lady Louise regents 
 of the kingdom in the mean time, with the 
 andreco- asslstancc of a state council. Louis, however, 
 
 vers. 
 
 recovered ; and this strange disposition, by which 
 
 two rivals, who mortally hated each other, 
 
 were to have acted in concert, never took effect. 
 
 1505. The renowned Isabella of Spain dying: at the 
 
 Death of i ./ o 
 
 Isabella of end of this year, threw her husband, who held his 
 "^'"' " dominions in a sort of partnership with her, into 
 some embarrassment. His son-in-law, the arch- 
 duke, claimed the crown of Castile in right of his 
 wife, Jeanne la Folic, daughter of Isabella ; and 
 Ferdinand, who found it difficult to deny his 
 claim, then made offers for a peace with Louis. 
 Marriage Hc proposcd to maiTy the king's niece, Gerinaine 
 nancfwiVh dc Foix, Oil couditiou that the king would relin- 
 deTofx!'^ quish to him, as her dowry, his pretensions to 
 Naples, the whole of which kingdom w as to revert 
 to the crown of France in case Germaine survived 
 Ferdinand, and died without issue. These con- 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 51 
 
 ditions were agreed to, the prisoners on either chap. 
 side were released, and a pacification effected ' 
 between Louis and Ferdinand. The latter im- 
 mediately afterwards quitted Spain, somewhat 
 in awe of his son-in-law, whose spirit he feared 
 no less than the strength he had recently ac- 
 quired by an alliance with England^ and retired 
 to Naples, [a) 
 
 Louis, now relieved from the distractions Assembly 
 which foreiofii wars and neorociations had occa- states ce- 
 sioned^ applied himself to the settlement of his Tours. 
 domestic affairs. An assembly of the states- 
 general was held at Tours, convened, as it was 
 said, by the nobles and other influential persons 
 of the kingdom, of their own authority, but 
 which it seems more probable was a measure 
 sanctioned, if not suggested, by the king, for the 
 purpose of getting decently rid of the treaty of 
 Blois. Louis readily repaired to Tours to give the 
 states-general the audience they had demanded. 
 On the 10th of May, 1506, the king, seated on a 
 throne, and accompanied on his right hand by the 
 cardinals d'Amboise and de Narbonne, the chan- 
 cellor, with a numerous body of prelates, and on 
 the left hand by the young count d'Angouleme, 
 the other princes of the blood, the lords and 
 barons, the first president of the parliament, and 
 several counsellors, received the assembly of the 
 states. (Z>) Bricot, a doctor of the University 
 
 (a) Mezeray, p. 540. L. P. Daniel, t. vii. p. 114. 
 
 [b) Whence it appears that the persons accompanying the 
 king are distinct from the states-general. Renault, Abr. 
 Chron., t. i. p. 345. 
 
 e2 
 
52 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, of Paris, and who, in consequence of his reputa- 
 
 1__ tion for eloquence, was selected to address the 
 
 kins: in the name of the assembly, delivered an 
 harangue, in which after expressing the grati- 
 tude of the people towards a monarch who had 
 diminished the public taxes, and secured a mild 
 and impartial administration of justice^ he urged 
 the destructive consequences which must ensue 
 to France by the separation of Brittany, and the 
 other stipulations which the treaty of Blois had 
 bound him to perform. His speech concluded 
 by a request that the king would unite his 
 daughter in marriage to the prince, w ho, if his 
 majesty should have no sons to succeed him, 
 would inherit the crown, and in this request 
 the whole assembly, kneeling- before the king, 
 joined. 
 
 Louis could not fail to be convinced by argu- 
 ments, which his own inclinations so powerfully 
 seconded. The orator had ingeniously con- 
 trived too, by allusions to Louis's government, 
 which was in the highest degree just and mode- 
 rate, so far as the people of France alone were 
 concerned, and by applying to him that epithet, 
 which his memory still retains, of the father of his 
 people^ to excite the king's feelings so strongly 
 that he shed tears. The assembly was adjourned 
 to the next day, when Louis, after a decorous 
 shew of scruples which he could not feel, yielded 
 to the voice of his people. He created Francis 
 duke of Valois, and on the twenty-first day of 
 the same month, on the feast of the ascension, 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 53 
 
 the ceremony of betrothing the youthful pair chap. 
 
 was solemnly performed by the cardinal d'Am '- — 
 
 boise in the presence of the whole com-t, after cessciaude 
 which the assembly broke up. {a) toFranc?s. 
 
 When this event, bv which Francis's cha- 
 racter of heir presumptive may be said to have 
 been publicly recognized^ took place, he had 
 just attained his twelfth, and the princess Claude 
 her fourth year. The countess d'Angouleme 
 succeeded in the accompHshment of her design, 
 and thus Francis in his boyhood gained his first 
 triumph over him ^ ho was destined to be his 
 rival through life, and whom fortune more than 
 recompensed in their subsequent competitions 
 for this early disappointment. 
 
 (a) Le P. Dauiel, t. vii. p. 126. Aiiqiietil, t. vi. p. 36. 
 
CHAP. 11. 
 
 Jnlius attempfs the expulsion of the French J'rom 
 Ilahj — Encourat/es a revolt in Genoa — Which is 
 subdued hij Louis in person — Interview between 
 Louis and Ferdinand — Julius effects the league of 
 Cambray against the Venetians, who endeavour to 
 avert the war, but in vain — Louis enters Italy ivith 
 a large army, and defeats the Venetians at Agna~ 
 dello — Returns to France—The Venetians recover 
 themselves, and are reconciled to the Pope — Julius 
 persists in his hostility to France — Solicits Henry 
 VIII. to join a league, and succeeds in detaching 
 the Swiss from the French interests — Louis calls a 
 Council of the Gallican Church, by which Juliuses 
 proceedings are condemned — Julius takes the field 
 in person — Attacks Ferrara and takes Mirandola — 
 Calls a Council of the Lateran — Replies to the 
 charges of the Council, and forms the Holy League 
 against France — Gaston de Foix assumes the com~ 
 mand of the Italian army — His rapid victories, and 
 death at Ravenna — The troops of the League drive 
 the French out of Italy — Ferdinand attacks Navarre 
 with the assistance of England — Expels Jean d'Al- 
 bret — Louis sends an army thither under the com- 
 mand of Francis, duke of Valois — Effects a recon- 
 ciliation with the Venetians — Julius dies — His cha- 
 racter — Leo X. is elected Pope — The war is con- 
 tinued — The defeat of the French at Novarra — The 
 French again expelled from Italy — Henry VI I L 
 
56 CONTENTS OF CHAP. II. 
 
 invades France — The siege of Terouenne — The hatlle 
 of the Spurs — The Swiss penetrate France and be-- 
 siege Dijon, hut are pacified by la Tremoille — 
 Henry takes Tournay and retires from France — 
 Death of Anne of Brittany — Marriage of Francis 
 with the Princess Claude — Proposal of Marriage 
 between Louis and the Princess Mary of England 
 — Accepted — She repairs to France, is married and 
 crotvned — Louis dies — His character. 
 
57 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 France was not likely to enjoy any long i506. 
 repose while Julias II. occupied the see of tempi s\he 
 Rome. That prelate was a man of turbulent o^ihe'^" 
 disposition and strong passions ; and although frmnViaiy. 
 not prone to the enormous vices which^ in Alex^ 
 ander VI. ^ had disgraced the Pontifical function,, 
 and shamed humanity^ he was not too scrupulous 
 as to the means by which he sought to carry 
 his designs into effect. With many faults, for 
 which, in his character of a churchman, it is 
 impossible to find any excuse, he possessed a 
 capacious and active mind, indomitable cou- 
 rage, and a warm love of his country. The 
 object dearest to his heart was tlie expulsion of 
 the French from Italy ; and for the accomplish- 
 ment of tliis he had determined to spare no pains, 
 and to encounter every hazard. He was also 
 desirous of restoring to the Church the domains 
 whicli, by various accidents, and at different 
 periods, had been wrested from it ; and he had 
 resolved to tame the insolence of some of the 
 independent states, among which, as Venice was 
 the most arrogant and the most powerful, he . 
 had determined it should be the first to feel the 
 effects of his vengeance ; but he did not, in the 
 mean time, give up his design of destroying the 
 interests of France. 
 
58 THE LIFE AND TliVIES 
 
 CHAP. Genoa, of Avhich Louis had obtained the ces- 
 
 ' — . sion, was a place of considerable importance to 
 
 Revolt of him, because it afforded him an easy passage to 
 ^^""'*' Milan. The people had, on all occasions, ma- 
 nifested a love of freedom, and a hatred of the 
 insolent nobility, by whom they w^re treated 
 with haughtiness and cruelty. Frequent dis- 
 turbances were the consequences of an animo- 
 sity which neither side took any pains to con- 
 ceal ; the factions of the Guelfs and Ghibelines 
 existed in this city with all their old rancour, 
 and were severally represented by the families 
 of the Adorni and Fregosi. 
 
 A tumult arose in consequence of a dispute 
 between some of the partisans of these houses, 
 in which a gentleman of the family of Doria, 
 and some others, were slain. The private quar- 
 rel became a public one, and the populace find- 
 ing themselves stronger than the nobles, de- 
 manded that in the public council, which had 
 been theretofore composed of equal numbers of 
 citizens and nobles, the people should return 
 two-thirds and the nobility but one-third of the 
 whole body. Philip of Cleves, count Rave- 
 stein, the governor, was absent; and his lieute- 
 nant, Rocalbertino, had the weakness to yield to 
 this demand. The people, encouraged by their 
 success, openly revolted. Ravestein hastened 
 back, and committed the egregious blunder of 
 attempting to tranquillize the flushed populace 
 by persuasion and mildness. The Pope, who 
 was a native of Savona, and sprung from a 
 
 / 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 59 
 
 plebeian family of Genoa, would gladly have chap. 
 
 seen the nobility destroyed for this reason, no ^^ 
 
 less than for the hatred be bore to France. He 
 therefore instructed his emissaries secretly to en- 
 courage the disorders^ an office which they per- 
 formed with so much industry^ that a street 
 brawl soon became an open rebellion against 
 the French government. The people took up 
 arms, elected eight officers^ whom they called 
 tribunes of the people, and invested Paolo di 
 Nove, a silk-dyer, with the dignity of doge. 
 The cry of '* Liberty^^ resounded through the 
 streets ; the city declared itself independent of all 
 authority ; the populace tore down and demo- 
 lished the arms of France^ and put up those of the 
 empire instead ; seized the places which Luigi 
 dal Fiesco held for France^ and laid siege to 
 Monaco, (a) They are accused of having mani- 
 fested their animosity against the French by 
 excesses so full of horror and atrocity as al- 
 most to surpass belief, (b) 
 
 The king, who suspected that the emperor as j^^^ 
 well as the Pope, had fomented the disorders of Louis sub- 
 
 r ' dues the 
 
 Genoa, inarched thither instantly with an army '^^"'''" 
 
 ■' J ^ person. 
 
 (a) Guicciardini, 1. vii. p. 371. 
 
 [b] " Dont une chronique du temps termine le tableau par 
 ces traits ; * lis croisoient,' (mettoient en croix) * les Fran- 
 cois qii*ils rencontroient ; leur arrachoient le coeur et les 
 entrailles ; se lavoient les mains dans leur sang ; les tailloient 
 en pieces sanspitie, avec les femmes qui la etoient, lesquelles 
 fdisoient mourir de tant cruelle et etrange mort, quel'horreur 
 du fait me defend d'eu dire la maniere.'" — Anquetil, t. vi. 
 p. 40. 
 
60 
 
 CHAP. 
 II. 
 
 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 of 50,000 men, accompanied by the dukes of 
 Bourbon, Lorraine, and Alen^on. {a) 
 
 The mere appearance of this force was suffi- 
 cient to check so rash and ill-organized a revolt 
 as that of Genoa. The rebels were immediately 
 reduced from the topmost excesses of insolence 
 and defiance to utter despair, and opening 
 their t»'ates, they submitted to be disarmed, and 
 tremblingly threw themselves upon the clemency 
 of the irritated monarch. 
 
 On the 28th of April, 1507, Louis, clad in 
 complete armour, with a white surcoat, and his 
 sword bared, rode into the terror-stricken city, 
 accompanied by his gendarmes and the archers 
 of his body guard. The town council presented 
 themselves before him, and with tears and pros- 
 trations besought his mercy. The king listened 
 to their deprecatory harangue, bade them rise, 
 and vouchsafing no other reply, passed on with- 
 out changing the sternness of his countenance ; 
 but it was hailed as a token of intended mercy, 
 that he immediately afterwards gave his sword 
 
 («) In his train were thirty prelates. The purpose for 
 which he led with him these preach'^rs of peace would seem 
 inexplicable, unless it were to increase the pomp of his ex- 
 pedition. One among them, indeed, afforded an instance 
 which was not, in those times, a very unusual one, of a 
 churchman who united the character of a warrior with his 
 holy profession. The bishop of Liege, afterwards known 
 as the cardinal de la Mark, and who in that character nui- 
 terially influenced the election to the empire in favour of 
 Charles V., rode with the king, armed at all points, engaged 
 in fight whenever an occasion offered, and always acquitted 
 himself manfully. — Le P. Daniel, t. vii. p. 130. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. Gl 
 
 1o one of the gentlemen who rode near him. («) chat. 
 The king^s escort moved onwards to the churchy "' 
 whicli he had no sooner entered than an infinite 
 number of women and children, clothed in 
 white^ cast themselves at his feet^ and suppli- 
 cated his mercy and compassion with loud cries 
 and tears. The king, who could not conceal 
 his emotion at this spectacle, abandoned the in- 
 tention which, it is said, he had entertained, of 
 making a dreadful example of this rebellious 
 city, and withdrew hastily to the palace that had 
 been prepared for him, first giving orders that 
 the Swiss troops in his service, who remained 
 without the walls, anxiously awaiting the signal 
 which was to glut their appetite for rapine, 
 should not enter the place. The whole amount 
 of his rigour ultimately consisted in imposing a 
 fine on the community, which was expended in 
 building a fortress near the city to prevent 
 future disorders, and which was thence called, 
 not inaptly, " the bridle of Genoa,'^ and in the 
 punishment of some of the ringleaders of the 
 revolt. He confirmed the ancient government 
 of the city by a new charter, and as a privilege 
 which he granted them of his own free will ; 
 he increased their garrison, erased the old im- 
 press from the coin, and substituted his own 
 efiigies and arms in sign of his supremacy. 
 
 (a) The banner which was carried before him was painted 
 with a bee surrounded by a swarm, and the motto was, Non 
 utitur aculeo Rex qui paremus ; a circumstance upon which 
 also the dejected Genoese founded some hope. 
 
62 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 II. 
 
 Paolo di Nove, the clog'e of the rebelUon^ was 
 betrayed by a Corsican who had borne arms 
 under him, and was sold to the French. He 
 was decapitated, as well as Demetrio Gino, who, 
 on being interrogated, disclosed the practices 
 of the Pope, and convinced the king of his 
 treachery, (a) 
 
 Louis, who, at the commencement of this 
 expedition, had been obliged to impose some 
 additional taxes, no sooner found that he had 
 terminated the enterprise without cost, than he 
 ordered the collection to cease ; a proceeding 
 which exposed him to the ridicule of some of 
 his unthinking courtiers, but formed an addi- 
 tional claim to the affection of the people, who 
 had given him the appellation of their father, (b) 
 
 The king then visited Milan, where he was 
 received with great pomp, and several festivals 
 were held in honour of his coming, among 
 which, that of Gian Giacopo Trivulzio was the 
 
 (a) Guicciardini, 1. vii. p. 375. 
 
 [b) This supposed parsimony of Louis, which, however, 
 sprung chiefly from a desire to promote the welfare of his 
 people, and in no respect approached avarice, was ridiculed 
 in a sort of farce which was represented with great applause 
 at Paris. The king was informed of this: he replied, " J'aime 
 beaucoup mieux /aire rire les courtisans de mon avarice que 
 
 faire pleurer le peuple de mes profusions.^* And when he 
 was urged to punish the comedians, he said ; '* No?i^ lis 
 peuvent nous apprendre des verites utiles. Laissons les se 
 divertir, pourvu quUls respectent Vhonneur des dames, Je 
 ne suis pas fdche que Von sache que dans mon regne on a 
 pris cette liberie impunementy — Anquetil, t. vi. p. 46. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 63 
 
 most magnificent, (a) He returned thence to ciiap; 
 
 Savona to meet Ferdinand the catholic^ who '- 
 
 was returning from Naples to Spain to resume 
 the government of Castile, which had become 
 vacant by the untimely death of the archduke 
 
 ft ft' 
 
 Philip, (h) The Spanish kin^ was accompanied interview 
 
 . . ' ^ . ' between 
 
 by his young wife and h\ Gonsalvo di Cordova^ Louis and 
 
 ,* P -. ,' i«i •! Ferdinand. 
 
 the latter ot whom he was taking home with 
 him in consequence of the jealousy he had con- 
 ceived at seeing the power and popularity which 
 the Great Captain had acquired at Naples. 
 Louis received his old enemy with honour, (c) 
 
 (a) The king opened the ball with the marchioness of 
 Mantua, and the cardinals of Narbonne and St. Severin were 
 among the dancers. — Anquetil, t. vi. p. 49. 
 
 (b) Philip's death, which took place on the 24th of Sep- 
 tember in the preceding- year, was suspected to have been 
 brought about by poison ; but, common as such practices 
 were at this time, the more rational opinion seems to be, that 
 he died of a fever, which great debility, the consequence of 
 his excesses, had rendered him unable to withstand. He 
 gave the most satisfactory proof of the estimation in which 
 he held Louis, by appointing him guardian to his son, a trust 
 whirh was performed in such a manner as proved the confi- 
 dence was not misplaced. 
 
 (c) On this occasion the two sovereigns contended with 
 each other in their respect and attention to the Great Cap- 
 tain. Louis XIL was unwearied in expressing his admiration 
 of the character and talents of a man, who had wrested from 
 him a kingdom, and by his solicitations Gonsalvo was per- 
 mitted to sit at the same table with the royal guests. As this 
 day, in the estimation of the vulgar, was the highest, so it 
 was considered as the last, of the glory of Gonsalvo. On his 
 arrival in Spain, he received a notification from Ferdinand 
 to retire to his country residence, and not to appear at court 
 without leave. From that moment his great talents were 
 
bray 
 
 04 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, j^j^^j i^jg niece with an affection, which, it is said, 
 
 '. — her wary spouse managed to turn to his own ad- 
 
 Tantage. They had long conferences together, 
 and mutually pledged their oaths upon the holy 
 sacrament to lasting peace and amity ; the only 
 result of which ^vas, to add another perjury to 
 the black catalogue with which the conscience 
 of the pious Ferdinand was already loaded. 
 1508. Julius, in the mean time, persisted earnestly 
 
 The league ' . . '. ^ rT i J J 
 
 of Cam- in the execution of his desion. He demanded 
 from the city of Venice restitution of the church 
 possessions in Romagna, which they had made 
 themselves masters of upon the expulsion of 
 Caesar Borgia, and which included the cities of 
 Ravenna, Cervia, Faenza, and Rimini. Having 
 received from them the refusal which he expect- 
 ed, he sought to engage as many powers as he 
 could in a league against them. The prosperity^ 
 
 condemned to oblivion, and he remained useless and unem- 
 ployed till the time of his death, in the year 1515, when he 
 received the reward of his services in a pompous funeral, 
 furnished at the expense of the king-. In reviewing the 
 transactions of his past life, Gonsalvo was accustomed to 
 say, that he had nothing wherewith to reproach himself, ex- 
 cept his breach of faith to Ferdinand, the young duke of Ca- 
 labria, and the transmitting Csesar Borgia as a prisoner in 
 Spain, contrary to the assurances of protection which he had 
 given him. To these acknowledged errors he is however 
 said to have added, that he had committed another crime, 
 the nature of which he would never explain. This unconfes- 
 sed, and by himself unforgiven sin, is supposed to have been 
 the suffering himself to be divested of his authority at Naples, 
 when he had a military force at his command. — Roscoe's 
 Leo X., vol. ii. p. 47. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 65 
 
 the apparent iudependeiice^ the insolence, and 
 the continence of Venice, (a) liad made her 
 feared by some of the neig"hbouring potentates, 
 and disliked by all of them. I pon these general 
 feelings the crafty pontifi' worked, and repre- 
 sented to Louis that, if he was desirous of re- 
 g*aining' the rich district on the left of the Adda, 
 and the cities of Brescia, Crema, Bergamo, and 
 Cremona, parts of the ancient demesnes of Mi- 
 lan, the time was now come when that de?ire 
 might be certainly accomplished. He urged 
 the needy and faithless Maximilian to strike for 
 Padua, Verona, Mcenza, and Friuli. To Fer- 
 dinand he pointed out the dishonest pleasure he 
 might obtain by wresting the Neapolitan sea- 
 ports from the states of Venice, to which they had 
 been pledg;ed as securities for a loan of money. 
 The ambition and rapacity of the several per- 
 sons whom he addressed, powerfully seconded 
 his persuasions. Plenipotentiaries were appoint- 
 ed, and in October, 1508, they met in the city 
 of Cambray, under pretence of settling some 
 affairs relatino: to the Low Countries. The 
 cardinal d'Amboise, as the Pope's legate, and 
 as Louis's ambassador, represented those two 
 powers. Maximilian sent his daughter, Mar- 
 garet of Austria, the widow of the duke of Sa- 
 voy, and the able governess of the Low Coun- 
 tries during the minority of her nephe^v, the 
 
 (a) ** Credendosi haver sempre il vento in poppa." — Ma- 
 chiavelli, Asino d'Oro, c. v. 
 
 VOL. I. F 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 II. 
 
66 
 
 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. (\y^\^Q of Liixembouro' ; and Ferdinand's minis- 
 
 II. 
 — — ! — ter was Jacopo d' Albion. In December, the 
 
 stipulations of the treaty were completed ; and 
 a power being reserved for some of the indepen- 
 dent states of Italy, and for the kings of England 
 and Hungary, to accede to the League, it was 
 definitively signed, {a) 
 
 The Venetians, who had received intimation 
 of the storm that was gathering for their destruc- 
 tioiij sent an ambassador [b) to France, to en- 
 deavour to dissuade Louis from a project which 
 as regarded his own interests was useless, and as 
 it attacked theirs was iniquitous. They endea- 
 voured to propitiate the emperor and Ferdinand, 
 solicited the aid of England, and even of the em- 
 la) Hist, cle la Ligue de Cambray, par i'Abbe clu Bos. 
 J[b) " II St; nommoit Condoimier, homine aimable, qui se 
 trouvoit souvent embarrasse, an milieu d'lme cour ou les 
 preventions contre la r^publique d^bordoient pour ainsi 
 dire, de toutes parts. Condolmier etoit valetudinaire. On 
 lui demandoit un jour des nouvelles de sa sante. Je me 
 porte assez bien^ dit-il, si ce ii^est que j^ai grand mal aiix 
 oreilUs, entendant journellement ce qui se dit contre la 
 repnhlique. Dans une explication avec le roi, qui I'ad- 
 mettoit souvent a sa conversation, le Venitien, apres avoir 
 remontre au monarque le danger qu'il couroit en quittajit 
 d'anciens allies, et s'attachant a des ennemis a peine recon- 
 cilies, la republique, disoit-il, a de grandes resources et 
 c''est une entreprise bien perilleuse de sUittaqner a une 
 puissance gouvernee par taut de tetes sages. Monsieur 
 VAmbassadeur^ repondit Louis, tout ce que vous venez de 
 me dire est fort bien ; fnais j^opposerai tant dejbus a vos 
 sages, quHls auront bien de la peine a les gouverner. Nos 
 foussont gens qui frappent a droite et a gauche, et qui n"" en- 
 tendant pas raison, quand ils onf une fois commence,'''' — 
 Anquetil, t. vi. p. 54. 
 
OF, FRANCIS THE FIRST. 07 
 
 peror of Turkey, and on all luiiids the} met with <^ " ^ p. 
 
 disappoint merits. A plan was proposed in the '. 
 
 senate which might have saved tliem, but it was 
 not thought consistent with the dignity, nor with 
 the permanent safety of the state ; it was to en- 
 deavour to pacify the Pope, by oifering him all 
 that he could hope to obtain by attacking them. 
 The indignant speecli of Domenico Trevisano, 
 procurator of St. Mark, fixed their w avering coun- 
 cils and induced them to disregard the meiiaces 
 of so unworthy a person as he described the Pope 
 to be. '' Because/' he said, " it is not to be be- 
 lieved that the Almighty God will permit, that 
 the issues of his rigour or of his mercy, of his 
 anger or of his peace, shall be placed in the 
 hands of a most arrogant and ambitious man^ 
 one who is addicted to wine and other unseemly 
 lusts, and that such a man shall deal them as his 
 cupidity counsels him, not as justice directs. "(«) 
 This eloquence had its effect, the more prudent 
 counsel vv as disregarded, and the bolder, but more 
 perilous one, followed. 
 
 The resolve being once taken, the prepara- 
 tions for defence were made with great alacrity. 
 A powerful army w as raised, the command of 
 which was entrusted to the count of Pitigliano, 
 Antonio de Pii, and Bartolommeo d'Alviano, 
 leaders of tried talents and great experience, and 
 a fleet was equipped for the purpose of co-ope- 
 rating with the land forces. Julius fulminated 
 his excommunications against the state, to which 
 
 (a) Guicciardini, 1. viii. p. 416. 
 F 2 
 
68 
 
 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 II. 
 
 the Venetians replied by a just recrimination 
 against his holiness, and an appeal to a more 
 righteous tribunal, [a) Louis declared war 
 against them by a herald at arms, to whom the 
 doge gave a short and dignified answer^ in w hicli, 
 leaving the king to settle with his conscience 
 the injustice of his conduct, he announced the in- 
 tention of the seignory to rely upon the strength 
 of their arms, and the goodness of their cause. 
 A succession of events, which, w hether fatal or for- 
 tuitous, are by the vulgar looked upon as the cer- 
 tain forerunners of calamity, happened to Venice 
 at this moment. The castle of Brescia w as blown 
 up; a galley, which had on board 10,000 ducats 
 destined for the relief of Ravenna, was lost at 
 sea ; the depositary of the public archives at 
 ^^enice suddenly fell do^vn ; but the crow ning 
 misfortune was the destruction of the arsenal 
 there^ ^^hich was fired either by accident or by 
 treachery. (6) The Venetians however defied the 
 augury, garrisoned their strong places, and sent 
 their geneials to the field. 
 Louis en- Louis displayed great alacrity in performing 
 ters Italy, j^j^ ^^^^ ^£ ^j^^ uujust treaty to which he had 
 
 (a) " Contro alia qual bulla fu da huomini incogriiti pre- 
 sentata pochi giorni poi nella citta di Roma una scrittura in 
 nome di principe, e di magistrati Vinitiani, nella qual, dopo 
 lung-a e acerbissima navratione contro al Pontefice, e il re di 
 Francia, si interponeva Tappellationedal monitorio al futuro 
 concilio, e in difetto della giustitia humana, a piedi di Christo 
 giustissirao giudice, e principe supremo di tutti." — Guicciar- 
 dini, 1. viii. p. 418. 
 
 [b) Guicciardini, 1. viii. p. 427. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 69 
 
 pledo-ed himself. At the head of the elite of his <^ " ^ p- 
 
 cavalry, amounting to 20,000 men, as many — 
 
 Swiss mercenaries^ and a strong- body of French 
 infantry, he descended into Italy. His army 
 marched in three divisions. The first was 
 commanded by the marechals Trivulzio and 
 Chaumont ; the king in person led the second 
 division^ or battle as it vs^as then called ; and the 
 rear-guard was under the guidance of Francis^ 
 duke of Longueville. Some of the most dis- 
 tinguished of the heroes, whose names had been, 
 or were thenceforward to become illustrious^ 
 fought in this army. Among them were the 
 rash and ill-fated Charles of Bourbon^ afterwards 
 constable of France ; Gaston de Foix^ who, yet 
 a boy, gave promise of that distinguished valour 
 which subsequently shone so brightly and so 
 briefly in the disastrous victory of Ravenna ; d'Au- 
 bigny, one of the most renow ned warriors that 
 Scotland had produced ; the adventurous Robert 
 de la Mark, afterwards marechal de Fleuranges; 
 la Palice, whom peril could not appal, nor re- 
 verses tame ; and the chevalier Bayard, the flower 
 of chivalry; besides many persons of more ex- 
 alted rank. Louis's army passed the Adda with- 
 out interruption, but were soon afterwards driven 
 back by the count of Pitigliano, who took and 
 sacked Trevi and Rivolta^ in which were French 
 garrisons. The king, enraged at this disgrace^ 
 resolved to force the Venetians to an engage- 
 ment, and d'Alviano's impetuosity seconded his 
 design. 
 
liOuis de- 
 feats the 
 
 dello 
 
 70 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. It had been determined in the French council 
 to endeavour to take Pandino, a place which 
 ^A ould enable its possessors to cut off the supplies 
 
 arAgiTa'^ AA hich wcrc intended for the enemy ; and the 
 Venetians^ being desirous to prevent its falling 
 into the hands of the French^ both of the armies 
 marched to that spot. The roads they took 
 were so near to each other^ that, although 
 they could not come to skirmishing by reason 
 of the bed of a torrent which lay between them, 
 they cannonaded each other on the march as 
 opportunities offered. The van-guard of the 
 French army, and the rear of the Venetian force, 
 wliich was under the command of d* A Iviano^, hap- 
 pened to approach each other as they came near 
 the small villaoe of Amiadello. D^Alviano, 
 Avhose greatest fault was his rashness, thought 
 he could attack them advantageously, and sent 
 to intimate this to the count of Pitigliano^ re- 
 questing that his colleague would come to his 
 relief with the rest of the force. The count 
 bade him keep on his march^ and not engage 
 in a combat which good policy counselled him 
 to avoid, and which had been forbidden by 
 the positive commands of the Venetian senate. 
 D'Alviano could not however be restrained ; he 
 liad taken up an advantageous position^ his guns 
 ^\ere well placed, and the spot was so thickly 
 covered with brush-wood and vine-stocks, that 
 the enemy^s cavalry could not act. He persisted 
 therefore in making an attack which was at 
 first very successful, and placed the battle, in 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 
 
 71 
 
 which Louis fou2:ht, in ^reat dansfer. A dex- chap. 
 tcrous movement of the French rear-j^nard ' 
 relieved them from their difticuhy. Bayard, who 
 commanded there, then advanced with a body 
 of foot so opporkmely, that he drove the Ve- 
 netians from their vantage, and enabled the 
 gendarmes to come to the charge. The pre- 
 sence of the French king, who encountered the 
 perils to which the commonest soldiers of his 
 army were exposed, and who led several 
 charges with great gallantry, roused the spi- 
 rits of his men. He was in vain pressed to 
 retire beyond the range of the enemy's fire : 
 '^ If any one is afraid, let him come behind 
 me,^' was his only reply. The conflict was san- 
 guinary and desperate, but short. D'Alviano 
 fought like a man who had placed every thing 
 upon a single cast, and, surrounded by a select 
 troop of his own men, disputed the fight long 
 after every one besides saw that all was lost. («) 
 The count of Pitigliano could not, or would not, 
 come to his assistance, but retreated with a part 
 of the cavalry. At the end of three hours the 
 rout w as complete. The slaughter among the 
 Venetian infantry had been immense, eight 
 thousand, as some authors have reported, lying 
 dead on tlie field. D'Alviano with the loss of 
 an eye, and with his face mutilated, and covered 
 with blood, was led a prisoner to the king's 
 tent (/;) 
 
 [a] Rrantoino, dis. xlvii. 
 
 [b] The king-, who had a high opinion of his courage, is 
 said lo have caused an alarm to bo made as if the fight had 
 
72 
 
 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 II. 
 
 Louis re- 
 turns to 
 France. 
 
 The Vene- 
 tians reco- 
 ver them- 
 selves, 
 
 Louis pursued his success with such ra- 
 pidity that in fifteen days he made himself 
 master of the districts of Ghiara d^Adda and 
 Caravaggio, of the cities of Cremona, Bergamo, 
 Brescia, and Crema, and of the fortress of Peschi- 
 era ; and having utterly destroyed the territorial 
 power of Venice, he returned to France. The 
 state was reduced to despair, relinquished all 
 her possessions on the main land, and sought, 
 by every kind of submission, to propitiate the 
 powers which were leagued against her. 1 he 
 Pope was at first inflexible, and t!ie emperor 
 fancied that the display of a similar temper 
 suited his circumstances. He came however 
 as speedily as his indigence permitted him to 
 take possession of Trevisa, and, by the time 
 he was ready, the inhabitants had determined 
 to resist his entrance. 
 
 The count of Pitigliano, with the survivors 
 of Agnadello, had thrown themselves into the 
 city of Padua, and resolved to defend it ; and 
 when Maximilian arrived before the city, he 
 found himself engaged in an aflair which he 
 had neither men, nor money, nor spirit to com- 
 plete. Louis sent him, at his request, a body of 
 cavalry, of whom Bayard Mas one, and which 
 was commanded by la Palice^ but even their 
 
 been renewed ; and interrupting" the conversation in which 
 they were engaged, asked him what that meant. D'Alviano 
 smiled, and replied with great composure, " Sire, s'il y u 
 combat aujourd' hui, ce ne peut etre qu'entre les Fran9ois ; 
 car les notres vous les avez gouvenies de maniere que voiis 
 ne les verrez de quinze jours en face." — Anquetil, t. vi. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 73 
 
 oourao^e and prowess were neutralized by Maxi- chap. 
 
 ... " IT 
 
 milian's vacillation and timidity. The Venetians '- 
 
 took heart at these events, of which the absence 
 of the king of France was the most favourable 
 to them, and strengthened Padua ; while the 
 mercenary Swiss, who composed a great part of 
 Maximilian's arm}, deserted by whole compa- 
 nies. At length Maximilian adopted a measure 
 which was in perfect accordance with his whole 
 life ; he decamped in the night w ith a few at- 
 tendants, and left his generals and his allies to 
 raise the siege, and to retreat as well as they 
 might be able («) 
 
 The Venetians, notwithstandini^ the tempo- ^nd are re 
 
 concilcd t< 
 
 rary success they had gained, found that they the Pope 
 had too many enemies to encounter single- 
 handed. They therefore renewed their offers 
 of submission to the Pope, and now with 
 better success. Julius had humbled their ar- 
 rogance, curtailed their power, and regained 
 the church estates which they had held. This 
 was all that he aimed at as regarded them ; his 
 ultimate object was to drive '^the barbarians,'' 
 as he called the French and Germans, out of 
 Italy, and in the accomplishment of this he 
 thought he could make the Venetians his instru- 
 ments. He therefore received them again to his 
 grace, enjoined them certain spiritual penances, 
 and released thein from the interdict of the 
 church. He viewed with jealousy, and not 
 without apprehension, the union between the 
 
 (a) Aiiquetil, t. vi. p. 62. 
 
 to 
 
71 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 C H A P. 
 II. 
 
 king of France and the emperor, and his 
 hatred against France, which was the more in- 
 sistri'u^iJis explicable, because when obliged to fly from 
 r.ant'e: ^" the vengeance of Alexander VI. he had found 
 an asylum in the court of France, and had 
 been treated with great kindness by Louis XII., 
 broke out in the most violent and unbecoming 
 expressions. But it was under the influence of 
 feelings more noble than those of personal dis- 
 like that Julius determined to break his alliance 
 with France, and to become its avowed enemy. 
 His plan was worthy of a great mind, and he 
 possessed the courage as well as the skill ne- 
 cessary for its accomplishment. He observed 
 with a wary eye the faults which the French 
 king had committed. Louis had impoverished 
 the country, had dis«:usted most of its inha- 
 bitants, and had omitted to perfect his con- 
 quest by remaining in person, or by leaving 
 there competent garrisons, (a) Of all Italy, 
 therefore, with the exception of Milan and 
 Genoa, Julius felt he was sure. He attempted 
 to excite a revolt in the latter city ; but the re- 
 cent peril of the inhabitants made them cau- 
 tious of incurring again the resentment of Louis ; 
 and even the spell- word of freedom, by which 
 they had been on other occasions so easily 
 roused, had now lost its inflnence. He oflered 
 the needv and sordid Maximilian «:old, bnt 
 the Emperor's fears were for once more powerfid 
 than his avarice. He assailed the young; kiuff of 
 
 (a) Macluavelli, II Principe, c. iii. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. iO 
 
 CHAP. 
 II. 
 
 England, Henry VIII., wlio was repnted to be 
 both pious and iini])itions, by sending him a 
 l^oldcn rose dipped in chrism, and pertinned 
 with musk, accompanied by a letter full of 
 strong exhortations, and an otfer of constitut- 
 ing him the head of a league against France. 
 Henry thereupon sent Bainbridge, arclibishop 
 of York, to Rome, who was in the sequel wholly 
 gained over to the Pope's interest against 
 France. («) 
 
 The Swiss had demanded from Louis an in- Dcfach" 
 
 the SWISS. 
 
 crease of their pensions, and this request not 
 being readily complied with, the Pope took ad- 
 vantage of that circumstance to detach them 
 from him. For this purpose he employed Mat- 
 thew Scheiner, a native of the district of La 
 Vallee, whom he created cardinal de Sion. 
 Scheiner had an uncle, who being bishop of 
 Sion, had o-jven his kinsman a canonry in that 
 church. The contests which almost always pre- 
 vailed between the bishop and his diocesans, en- 
 abled this pugnacious churchman to indulge his 
 natural love of warfare. He put himself at the 
 head of a body of troops which he employed 
 lirst in harassing his uncle's opponents, and 
 then in compelling the chapter of Sion to re- 
 la) The Pope's present was directed to Arclibishop War- 
 ham, " who had instructions to present it to the king at high 
 mass, with the Pope's benediction, with a letter full of coui- 
 plainls against the French king, and representing him as 
 one who had no regard either for God or a good name or 
 conscience ; and, among other invectives, whose design was 
 to lay the foundation of his empire in the usurpation and 
 conquest of all Italy." — Fiddes's Wolsey, p. .'31. 
 
76 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 II. 
 
 ceive liiiii as co-adjutor. He had g'aiiied a pa- 
 ramount influence amono; the mountaineers, 
 as well by his valour as b} a forcible eloquence, 
 which, though rude, was so admirably adapted 
 to their passions and understanding, that his 
 harangues moved that savage people, as the 
 Avind agitates the leaves of a forest, [a] By his 
 means Julius engaged their services, and in- 
 vested them with the title of the defenders of 
 the church, an appellation which flattered their 
 vanity, while Scheiner's martial sermons made 
 them believe that the war to which he urged 
 them against Louis ^^ould be as meritorious as 
 a crusade. Influenced by his persuasions, they 
 therefore agreed to make a descent upon Italy. 
 Ferdinand not onlv renounced without hesitation 
 the league of Cainbray^ from which he had now 
 gained ail that he could hope for, but entered 
 into that of the Pope, urged his son-in-law, 
 Henry VIII., to do tlie same, and accepted from 
 Julius a full investiture of the kingdom of [Naples. 
 , . „ Louis perceived the storm that was ffatherino; 
 
 Louis calls c^ <^ (^ 
 
 a council of aj'Q mid Jijm on all sides. He would willingly 
 
 the Galli- ^ ~,«^ 
 
 can church, havc takcu thc flcld, and would have tried in 
 arms the strength of the Pope and his allies ; 
 but, Avith no other aid than Maximilian's, this 
 would have been a step too hazardous. He re- 
 solved, therefore, to turn against Julius the arms 
 of his own church, and called a council of the 
 French prelates at Tours, to m horn he submitted 
 a series of questions, the general effect of which 
 was whether a Pope had a right to levy war, when 
 
 (a) Mezerav, p. 547. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIllST. /7 
 
 neither religion nor the demesnes of the chnrcli f^nAP. 
 
 . . II 
 
 were its object; and whether, such a war ])eing ' 
 
 levied, it miglit not be riohteonsly opposed by Jemn'^^the 
 force. The reply was^ as might have been expect- JSncfs'"' 
 ed, the Galbcan church fully authorized Louis to 
 make the war he projected an offensive one, and 
 declared that any papal excommunication issued 
 during its continuance would be null. Relying 
 upon the provisions of the pragmatic sanction — 
 the charter^ as it may be called, of the liberties of 
 the Gallican church — they forbade any applica- 
 tions to be made to the court of Rome respecting 
 the disposition of benefices, or any money to be 
 transmitted thither. They suggested to the king 
 the propriety of calling a general council, for 
 which Julius's conduct bv discontenting- some 
 of liis cardinals, had furnished the elements ; and 
 in addition to this tliey afforded the king the 
 more substantial aid of granting him a large sub- 
 sidy, to be raised on the church possessions, (a) 
 
 The war was begun by the Pope, w ho leaving juHus 
 to Louis the spiritual weapons to which he had ffeidinper- 
 resorted, betook himself to the more efficacious ^°"* 
 mode of attacking with the arm of flesh, and in 
 person, the district of Ferrara, and narrowly es- Attacks 
 
 i ■' . . , rerrara, 
 
 caped being made a prisoner in Bologna. 
 
 Julius seemed not onlv to have thrown off all 
 the habits and demeanour of a prelate ; but to 
 have assumed those of a soldier with the most 
 determined resolution. His troops were be- 
 sieging Mirandola, and, suspecting that they 
 did not pursue the siege with sufficient alac- 
 
 (a) Mezeray, p. 547. Le P. Daniel, t. vii. p. 214. 
 
78 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, ^.ji^y^ }|Q marched thitiier instantly^ old and 
 
 '-_ worn out as he was, to supply by his own pre- 
 
 Mirati'doTa. sencG all that he believed was necessary to the 
 talking the place. It was in the midst of one of 
 the hardest winters that had been known in 
 Italy. A fall of snow^ which had continued for 
 several days together^ had covered the roads^ 
 and a bitter wind prevailed. At his outset he 
 narrowly escaped being captured by Bayard, 
 who had laid a scheme for taking him^ which only 
 failed of succeedins: by a mere accident. Nothins: 
 could check the martial ardour of this head of 
 the church. He assisted in person at the works 
 in the trenches^ directed the planting the artil- 
 lery, commanded the assaults, and frequently 
 exposed himself to imminent danger; while the 
 troop of cardinals who accompanied him, en- 
 deavoured to conceal their own cowardice by 
 reprehending and deploring excesses so un- 
 seemly. The breach was at length made, and 
 the moat which surrounded the fortress being 
 covered with thick ice, no lono:er answered the 
 purpose of defence. Francesca, the widow of Lu- 
 dovico Pico, and the daughter of Gian Giacopo 
 Trivulzio, who had defended the place with an 
 heroic resolution until she saw all hope was 
 gone, surrendered the castle. Such however 
 was the impatience of Julius, that he would not 
 wait until the gates could be opened ; but 
 monnted the breach with a scalino' ladder, and 
 so entered the fortress he had subdued. («) 
 The exertion he had made brought on a fever, 
 
 (a) Muratori, Annali d'ltalia, t, xli. p. G5. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 70 
 
 which obliged him to pause for a short time; chat. 
 
 but repose was hateful to him, and as soon as '. 
 
 he was able to move, the restless old man re- 
 sumed his plans, which were particularly di- 
 rected against the duke of Ferrara, one of the 
 most troublesome of his enemies. Bologna was 
 again attacked, and a popular tumult in favour 
 of the Bentivogli aiding the French arms, it was 
 this time taken, [a) and the Pope returned to Ra- 
 venna. Immediately afterwards the papal troops 
 were defeated by Trivulzio, in consequence, as 
 it was said, of the misconduct or treachery of 
 the Pope's nephew, the duke of Urbino, who ' 
 
 effectually prevented the exposure which the 
 cardinal of Pavia was about to make of him bv 
 poignarding him in the streets of Ravenna, in 
 the midst of his guards. (6) 
 
 The Pope was assailed too by the assem])ly 
 of a general council of the church at Pisa, to 
 which the cardinals of Santa Croce, St. Maloes, 
 Bayeux, and Cosenza repaired : they were af- 
 terwards joined by the cardinals San Severino 
 and d'Albret, although the latter, in doing so, 
 was believed to comply with the king's wishes 
 against his own inclination, (c) The ultimate 
 
 (a) Chaumont sent to the Duke of Ferrara a fine brazen 
 statue of Julius, the work of Michel Agaolo, which the po- 
 pulace had indignantly thrown down. The duke played off 
 a soldier's jest upon the Pope, by having this statue made 
 into a cannon, which he appropriately called Giu/io. — Ros- 
 coe's Leo X., vol. ii. p. 91. 
 
 (b) Lettere di Principi, t. i. p. 9. 
 
 (c) Guicciardini, 1. x. p. 538. 
 
80 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, object of the convention was to bring the Pope 
 L_ to a reckoning for the scandal of his past con- 
 duct, and to restrain his power for the future. 
 ^^^•' ?, . In Isis road to Ravenna, Julius learned that this 
 
 council or -' 
 
 the Late- couucil had pubhshed a notice of their sittini>\ 
 
 ran. ^ , '-" 
 
 and had summoned him to appear before them 
 
 on the first of September following. He knew 
 
 too well the power of such an assembly to be 
 
 much disturbed at it; but he immediately 
 
 issued a bull for convening a general council of 
 
 the church at the Lateran^ thus destroying the 
 
 accusation of his refusal to hold such a council, 
 
 on which the Pisan convention had been mainly 
 
 Replies to foundcd. By the same bull he replied with 
 
 against'^^^^ grcat powcr and ingenuity to the charges which 
 
 "'"' the hostile cardinals had brought against him. 
 
 He did more, he perfected a league, which he 
 
 and forms Called tlic '^ Holv Lcao^ue," in which he nre- 
 
 the Holy . , , t-< i • i ^ • • i i 
 
 League, vailcd upou rerciinand to join, who agreed to 
 furnish him with a large force ; and it ^\ as also 
 formally acceded to by Henry VHL, who was 
 to attack Guienne, while the Swiss were engaged 
 to fall upon the Milanese, {a) 
 Gaston de Louis rciuforced his Italian army, and made 
 sumes the cvcry preparation for resisting the attack of the 
 
 command _ * -j, •xi/^x J r> ' 
 
 of the ita- League. He appointed (jaston de roix, gene- 
 
 lian army. 
 
 [a) The Swiss engaged in this enterprise marched under 
 the standard which had been borne in the battle of Merat, 
 when they defeated Charles the Bold. L^Anonimo Pado^ 
 vano says, that their main banner had the following- arrogant 
 inscription, " Domatores Principum, Amatores Justitice, 
 Defensores Sanctce Romance Ecclesice,'' — Muratori, An- 
 nali d' Italia, t. xli. p. 80. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 81 
 
 ral of his force, who, although lie had not yet c^iap. 
 
 attained his twenty-third year, had displayed a -'— 
 
 skill and prudence which could not be surpassed. 
 The papal forces, accompanied by their Spanish 
 allies, had so good an opiniou of their strength 
 that they would not wait until the spring had 
 brought weather more favourable for campaign- 
 ing, 1t)ut resolved, in January, 1512, to lay siege 
 to Bologna. The town was ill provided, and it Hisvic- 
 must soon have been taken but for the sue- Italy.'" 
 cour of Gaston, who made a forced march by 
 night with 11,000 foot and 300 lances. He ar- 
 rived at Bologna in the morning, and on the 
 tenth day of the siege entered the city during a 
 thick fall of snow, and without being seen. If his 
 troops had not been exhausted with their march, 
 and he had then made an attack upon the army of 
 the League, he must have utterly defeated them. 
 The besiegers only learnt that the succour had 
 arrived in time to effect their retreat from so 
 overwhelming a force, (a) Gaston's triumph 
 was disturbed by the intelligence that the city 
 of Brescia had been treacherously given up to the 
 Venetians, and that the garrison there could not 
 hold out much longer. He marched, with such 
 speed as it appears almost impossible to believe, 
 to its relief. He fought tw o battles, and gained 
 two victories on his route : and, as we are as- 
 sured by an eye-witness, performed by his ca- 
 valry, on his last day's march, fifty Italian miles 
 
 (a) Muratori, t. Ixi. p. 88. Guicciardini, 1. x. p. 573. 
 VOL. I. G 
 
THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, without once drawing bit. («) He then relieved 
 
 II. 
 
 - the garrison ; summoned the city to surrender^ 
 and on the refusal of the defenders, commenced 
 an attack, that, for the ferocity ^vith which it 
 was conducted, and the carnage that ensued, w as 
 almost unparalleled even in those days. The city 
 w as taken, the V'enetians cut to pieces, and the 
 wretched inhabitants delivered up to all the hor- 
 rors of a sack. 
 
 The Chevalier Bayard, who had distinguish- 
 ed himself by acts of most heroic valour in the 
 attack, performed here one of those deeds of 
 benevolence and charity w hich have made his 
 memory immortal, by saving a lady and her 
 daughters from the fury of the soldiers. (5) 
 The^Battie ^^^ king notwithstanding the glory of these 
 of Raven- exploits, by wliich the young conqueror had 
 in fifteen days stricken terror into his enemies, 
 and gained for himself the appellation of the 
 Thunder of Italy, saw that the junction of the 
 confederate forces would be too much for him 
 to withstand, and he therefore ordered Gaston to 
 come to an engagement w ith all possible speed, 
 and while the spell of his good fortune yet held 
 its power. De Foix marched to Ravenna, to 
 which he affected to lay siege, in the belief that 
 this would bring the army of the League w ithin 
 his reach. The event answered his expecta- 
 tions. He was foiled in his attempt upon the 
 
 {a) Murat. Ann. d'ltalia, t. xli. p. 92, who cites I'Anoni- 
 mo Padovano. 
 
 [b) x'Vppendix, No. I. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 83 
 
 fortress ; but the army of the League encamp- chap. 
 ed within three niiks of him. 1 he Cardinal ' 
 de' Medici, (afterwards Leo X.) had, in his 
 quality of the Pope's legate, the supreme di- 
 rection of the forces ; but the military com- 
 mand was held by Cardona, the Nea])olitan 
 viceroy, by Fabrizio Colonna, and by the 
 young marquis of Pescara. They waited under 
 the walls of Faenza to see what course Gaston 
 intended to take, and were not long left in doubt. 
 The French general prepared for battle, and 
 having sent Bayard to reconnoitre he arranged 
 his plan of attack. Cardona, under the advice 
 of Pietro da NavaiTa, resolved to keep within the 
 intrenchments, but, after a slaughtering cannon- 
 ade, they were forced by the French. The battle 
 then became general, and was disputed during 
 eight hours with the greatest skill and courage. 
 Cardona, believing the day was lost, fled from 
 the field at an early period of the engagement, 
 and took refuge at Ancona. {(i) A great part 
 of the cavalry followed his example, and was 
 cut to pieces and dispersed by Bayard and Louis 
 d^Ars, whom Gaston sent in pursuit of them. 
 The foot still remained firm, and were not 
 shaken until after repeated attacks. By command 
 
 (a) " Le viceroi Raimond de Cardonne, homrrie qui avec 
 une tr^s-bonne mine, n'avoit ni courag-e, ni experience, et 
 que le Pape iippelloit ordinal renient madame de Cardonne, 
 effraie de cette defaite, prit aussi-tot la fuite avec ses gen- 
 darmes et ne s'arreta point qu'il n'eut gagn^ Anconne eloi- 
 gn^e de la de pres de trente lieues." — Le P. Daniel, t. vii. 
 
 p. 276. 
 
 G 2 
 
84 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. Q^ their officers a larg'e body of the Spanish 
 
 '- — infantry had been ordered to he down on their 
 
 faces to avoid the shot. This was, however, 
 soon discovered by their vigilant foes, and 
 some guns were bronght to bear upon them 
 from an elevation, which, together with the 
 discharge of the French archers, galled them 
 so much that they rose and could not be 
 withheld from rushing into action. The con- 
 flict that ensued between the French and 
 Spanish infantry was of the fiercest kind. The 
 archers who were too closely engaged to make 
 use of their peculiar weapons, resorted to the 
 small axes which they had at their belts, and 
 did great execution with them in the melee. (^a) 
 Pietro da Navarra and several other officers 
 were taken prisoners ; an immense number of 
 the allies were slain, but the loss on the part of 
 the French was almost as great. 
 The death In ail earlier part of the action Gaston had 
 
 of Gaston i-i iiii n 
 
 de Foix. bccn engaged with a small body of gendarmes 
 against twice as many Spanish pikeinen, whom 
 he totally defeated. Two companies of the 
 enemy who had gained some success against 
 the Gascon and Picardy regiments, had drawn 
 off, and, getting into as good order as they 
 could, made the best of their way towards Ra- 
 venna, intending to throw themselves into the 
 fortress. The bastard du Tay, who encoun- 
 tered them on the road, drove them back along 
 the side of the canal. Some of the defeated 
 
 (a) Mem. de Bayard, cap. liv. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 85 
 
 Gascons in the meantime had got to the place 
 where the duke de Nemours was, and inform- 
 ed him that the Spaniards had beaten them. 
 l^y this time the victory was complete ; but the 
 duke^ believing that the Gascons spoke of the 
 whole body of the infantry^ determined to rally 
 them^ and for this purpose calling aloud to 
 those who were with him, and followed by 
 fourteen or fifteen gendarmes, rode hastily 
 aloni> the causewav, the canal, the descent to 
 which was extremely steep, being on one side, 
 and on the other side a deep ditch. In this 
 disadvantageous spot it was that his fate led 
 him to encounter the Spaniards whom du Tay 
 had turned. Believing that he was more nu- 
 merouslv followed, and that the foot were close 
 at hand, he rode into them^ and was imme- 
 diately surrounded. He \\as first fired upon, 
 and then piked ; every ma.n who was with him 
 was killed or miserably wounded. The duke 
 fought ^l ith desperate courage^ but against such 
 odds that it was madness to contend for a mo- 
 ment. Lautrec who was with him^ and who 
 
 defended him until he himself fell covered with 
 wounds, called out to the Spaniards to spare 
 him^ telling them he was the brother of their 
 queen. They did not or would not hear him, 
 and having dispatched the ill fated duke and 
 his followers, they made good their retreat upon 
 the causeway unperceived by the rest of the 
 army. 
 
 Bv such an accident it was, that in the 
 
 CHAP. 
 II. 
 
86 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, nioment of victory, this gallant young warrior 
 ' fell under the weapons of men who were fleeing 
 from the very sound of his name. Lautrec was 
 found, and although pierced by almost countless 
 wounds, ultimately recovered. When Gaston's 
 body was taken up^ it \^ as perceived that fi^om 
 . the chin to the forehead, he had fourteen or 
 fifteen wounds^ '' clear proof that the gentle 
 prince had never turned his back/' («) 
 
 Within three months^ and before he was three 
 and twenty years of age, he had gained four 
 battles, and renown enough to fill a long life. 
 The fight itself was savage ; the cause perhaps 
 unjustifiable on both sides ; but the fall of the 
 boy-conqueror in eager pursuit of his own and 
 his nation's glory ; smitten down ^vhile victory 
 w as in his very grasp ; so sudden and so melan- 
 clioly an ending of so brilliant a career^ cannot 
 be contemplated without deep sympathy and 
 regret. 
 
 His death struck terror and despair into the 
 camp, which, but for that events would have 
 echoed with the shouts of victory. His corpse 
 was carried by his gentlemen to his lodgings, 
 and the rude soldiers, even in their wildest 
 mood, with the scent of blood still in their 
 nostrils, could not restrain their unaccustomed 
 tears, as they beheld borne past them the lifeless 
 body of the young leader, whose battle-cry had 
 so lately cheered tliem on to victory. In Prance 
 the news occasioned still greater dismay. The 
 
 (a) Mem, cle Bayard, c. liv. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 
 
 87 
 
 advantage which had been g'aiiied was for" ottcii chap. 
 
 iudieloss which accoHipauied it. A large portion '- — 
 
 of France's best army lay upon the field ; the 
 confidence of the nation had departed ; and 
 Louis had too much reason for saying, in the 
 bitterness of his heart, to some one who con- 
 gratulated him on the victory of Ravenna. 
 '' Wish my enemies such victories!" 
 
 In Rome too the news of the battle caused ijesuitof 
 
 the battle, 
 
 deep alarm. The cardinals thought that all 
 Italy must now inevitably become the prey of 
 the French. They urged the Pope to make 
 ofiers of accommodation, and might perhaps 
 have succeeded in inducing liim to a proceeding 
 so contrary to his wishes, but for the opportune 
 arrival at Rome of Ciiiulio de' Medici. He had 
 been in the battle^ but had fled withCardona ; he 
 had since had an interview with his cousin, the 
 cani! al de' Medici, who was taken prisoner, and 
 who urged him to hasten to the Pope to repre- 
 sent to him the state of both armies, and the al- 
 most irreparable mischiefs which had resulted 
 to the French from their victory. The Pope's 
 spirit resumed its wonted tone on this intelli- 
 gence. He had already brought over Maximi- 
 lian, and had proved the weakness of the conci- 
 liabulum, as the council of the opposing cardi- 
 nals was called. He affected to renew a pro- 
 position he had made to Louis for a treaty of 
 peace, but it was merely for the purpose of de- 
 luding him, of rousing the queen's scruples^ 
 and of concluding with the Swiss a plan for their 
 
88 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, descent into the Milanese, inider the pretence of 
 
 '. restoring the young Maximilian Sforza^ the son 
 
 of Ludovico 11 Moro, to the duchy of Milan, {a) 
 The This pkn was effected : the Venetian and 
 
 French are , ^ ^ • • i ^i o • xi, 
 
 driven out papal ti'oops joined the Swiss as soon as they 
 ^^' made their appearance. La Palice^ who had 
 now the command of the Italian army, disposed 
 his forces to resist the attack. He garrisoned 
 Crema, Brescia, and Bergamo, and threw him- 
 self into the fortress of Pontevico, from which 
 he could communicate with the other places 
 with the remainder of his troops, a great part of 
 which were German lanz-knechts. On the day 
 after his arrival, Maximilian^s letters, command- 
 ing all his subjects to withdraw from the service 
 of France, were brought into the garrison. The 
 lanz-knechts, not sorry for the pretext which 
 was thus afforded them, withdrew at once, and 
 La Palice, thus deserted, was compelled to re- 
 treat to Ast, which he did with great difficulty. 
 The young duke Maximilian took cjuiet posses- 
 sion of Milan, the people of which city drove 
 out the conciliahulum, which was thereupon ad- 
 
 [a] The Swiss had never forgiven the king for having said 
 when they demanded an iarrease of their pensions : " Qiie 
 pretendent done cen miserables montagnards ? Est-ce (ju'ils 
 me regardent comme leur tributaire ou leiir caissier ?" The 
 cardinal de Sion, the implacable enemy of France, took care 
 to keep alive the resentment which this rash speech had oc- 
 casioned. They eagerly con)plied with the Pope's request; 
 for the first time they began their march without being paid, 
 and sent him three times as many men as he required of 
 them. — Le P. Daniel, t, vii. p 285. Anquetil, t, vi. p. 73. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 89 
 
 C H A P. 
 II. 
 
 joiirned to Lyons. The inhabitants of Genoa 
 revolted, and elected for their doge one of the 
 Freo'osi, a mortal eneniv of France : the French 
 were wholly expelled from Italy, and Julius's 
 boast that he would expel the barbarians, was 
 accoii^JJished to the very letter. A series of 
 battles had been gained, actions of individual 
 heroism had been performed by the French sol- 
 diery^ Mhich had been in no time surpassed; 
 but the evil genius of France was in the ascen- 
 dant. The absence of the king, the delays that 
 took place in the transmission of his orders, 
 which were sometimes injudicious^ and some- 
 times contradictory ; his unfortunate spirit of 
 economy, which, although in private atiairs it 
 is a virtue, is the destruction of great enterprises, 
 and the insubordination of the mercenary part 
 of his army, baffled all his efforts, and those of 
 his gallant subjects. Defeat and humiliation 
 were the only fruits he reaped from the labour of 
 years^ and a ruinous expenditure of blood and 
 treasure. 
 
 Ferdinand of Spain had entered into a nego- Ferdinand 
 elation with Henry VIII., the object of which, as Navarre, 
 he pretended, ^^ as to regain possession of Guienne, asStance 
 to which England still pretended a title. The Ssh^'troo^s. 
 marquis of Dorset, with a force of 50,000 men, 
 landed in Spain, and marched towards the 
 French confine. Ferdinand, whose design really 
 was upon Navarre, of which Jean d^ Albret was 
 sovereign in right of his wife, Catherine de Foix, 
 demanded a passage through the dominions of 
 
90 
 
 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP 
 II. 
 
 the latter. The king of Navarre^ who had been 
 -_ placed luider the Pope^s interdict,, because he re- 
 
 Ex pels 
 
 Jean d'Al- 
 biet. 
 
 Louis 
 sends thi- 
 ther an 
 army un- 
 der the 
 command 
 of Franci's. 
 
 fused to declare against 
 
 the king of France, 
 
 whose ally he was^ replied that he had deter- 
 mined to observe a strict neutrality, and could 
 not therefore comply with this recpest : where- 
 upon Ferdinand, intending only to make use of 
 the English forces for the purpose of conquering 
 Navarre, represented to the marquis that Jean 
 d'Albret must be subdued before the attempt 
 upon Guienne could be made. The English 
 general, disgusted at the delays which had taken 
 place, and at the dishonesty of Ferdinand, which 
 had now become palpable, and more than all 
 distressed at the ravages which the climate had 
 made in his army, resolved to stay no longer, and 
 therefore returned to England. Ferdinand, how- 
 ever, pursued his attack, accomplished his end 
 of making himself master of Navarre, in spite 
 of its imbecile monarch, and placed garrisons in 
 some of its strongest towns, (a) 
 
 Louis could not patiently see this injustice 
 practised upon a king, the only fault alleged 
 against whom was his adherence to the interests 
 of France. He sent him prompt succours under 
 the joint command of the dukes of Bourbon and 
 Longueville. Some disputes arose between tliem 
 
 {a) Catherine de Foix, who had sense enoug-h to perceive 
 the degradation to which she was subjected, and spirit enough 
 to resent it, said frequently afterwards to her husband, " Alas, 
 Don Juan, if you had been born Catherine, and I Dor Juan, 
 we had yet reigned in Navarre." 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 91 
 
 on the subject of precedence ; to put an end to chap. 
 which the king' sent the young- duke of Valois ' 
 to take the supreme command. Francis was at 
 this time between seventeen and eighteen years 
 of age. The glorious example of Gaston de 
 Foix had inflamed all the warlike youth of 
 France, and was not lost upon the courageous 
 heir to the crown, who eagerly embraced the 
 opportunity w hich the war of Navarre afforded 
 him of fleshing his maiden sword. As soon as 
 he had reached the camp, he marched the French 
 army to St. Jean Pied de Port, where the duke 
 d^Alba had taken up a position. With not less 
 discretion than bravery, he tried to bring the 
 enemy to an engagement, and sent the Spanish 
 general a defiance. D'Alba^ with the charac- 
 teristic courtesy of the time, thanked him for the 
 honour he had intended him^ but declined the 
 offer, on the score of the king, his master's 
 orders, Francis then divided his army into three 
 bodies^ one of which, under the nominal com- 
 mand of Jean d'Albret, but which was in fact 
 led by la Palice, entered Navarre ; the duke 
 of Bourbon^ w ith the second division^ ravaged 
 Guipuscoa^ and took and demolished several 
 fortresses ; the third, commanded by Francis and 
 the duke de Longueville, kept the duke d'Alba 
 in check at St. Jean Pied de Port. The first 
 steps of the king of Navarre were judiciously 
 and successfully made. Several of the important 
 places declared for him ; he marched to Pampe- 
 luna, for the purpose of laying siege to it ; and 
 
92 
 
 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 II. 
 
 Louis 
 efiFects a 
 reconcilia- 
 tion with 
 the Vene- 
 tians. 
 
 he now had an opportunity, which, if he had 
 made fitting use of, must have ensured him the 
 restoration of his dominions. He migiit have 
 enclosed the duke d^Alba between liis own and 
 the duke de Valois's divisions ; he how ever not 
 only omitted to do so^ but he permitted the duke to 
 reach Pampeluna before him, to succour the place, 
 and to regain the open country. After this it was 
 impossible to retrieve the mistake which had 
 been made. The winter had set in rigorously, 
 the army was in want of provisions^ and it was im- 
 practicable to move the artillery along the moun- 
 tainous roads. After some unsuccessful efforts 
 they were obliged to decamp, and Francis re- 
 turned to the capital, having displayed talents 
 and courage which gave promise of his future 
 fame^ although the enterprise in which he had 
 been engaged was unavoidably defeated. 
 
 The absolute necessity of making some alli- 
 ance, which might be serviceable to the French 
 arms in the contests that threatened them on 
 all sides, began to be apparent, and it was de- 
 bated in council whether an attempt should be 
 made to effect a reconciliation with Maximilian, 
 or with the Venetians. The latter was decided 
 on^ and a league defensive and offensive was 
 entered into by France with the state of Venice, 
 for the common object of recovering the posses- 
 sions they had severally held in Italy. Troops 
 which had so lately met as enemies, marched 
 under the same banners. D'Alviano, who had 
 been a prisoner in France since the battle of 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 93 
 
 Ag"nadello, was released, and took the com- ^"^^^p. 
 
 ® . . II. 
 mand of the Venetian troops^ Avhile that army '- — • 
 
 with which Lonis indulged the hope of being 
 
 yet able to regain the Milanese,, was placed 
 
 under la Trenioille. 
 
 While the ne»"ociation for this leasrue was i^is. 
 
 TV • 1 -xi 1 1 Death of 
 
 going on, Julius was seized with a malady JuHus il 
 which is supposed by some writers to have been 
 brought on by his intemperate passion at hear- 
 ing that the French had obtained the co-opera- 
 tion of the Venetians. After an illness of a few 
 days, during which he preserved his clear judg- 
 ment and that commanding spirit which had 
 never brooked contradiction or control, he died 
 on the 21st of February, having first devoutly 
 received the sacraments of the church. He 
 is said in his last moments to have exclaimed^ 
 " Out with the French from Italy ! Out with 
 Alphonso of Este;" expressions which, consi- 
 dering his temper, and the project that con- 
 stantly occupied his mind, he might have uttered 
 without being in the slightest degree under the 
 influence of delirium. 
 
 Great injustice has been done to his character His cha- 
 by the writers of that period, and by none 
 more than by his own countrymen. Guicciar- 
 dini says he cannot be called a great man by 
 any but those who forget that it is the duty of 
 a christian pontiff" to add to the glory of the 
 holy see by the example of a pious life^ and not 
 to encrease its temporal possessions by war, and 
 
 j^ 
 
 racter. 
 
94 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, bloodshed; (a) and Muratori, following the cry, 
 
 TT 
 
 \ doubts whether his project of ''driving the bar- 
 barians out of Italy/' was consistent with the 
 ofhce of chief pastor of the Church. But they 
 both forget that as a temporal prince he had 
 also duties to perform ; that he was surrounded 
 by encroaching enemies, who respected his 
 troops and his artillery more than his priests 
 and his excommunications ; and that all his 
 designs, gigantic and bold as they were, had 
 not the slightest tincture of selfish aggrandise- 
 ment or personal ambition, [h) 
 
 As for liis military habits, they were not at 
 that time so unusual as to create any great 
 scandal, even in a Pope ; and the more particu- 
 larly when it is remembered that Julius had 
 from his earliest years shewn an inclination for 
 
 [a] L. xi. p. 31. 
 
 [b] Guicciardini, in another part of his history, (lib. ix.) 
 speaking of Julius's conduct under reverses, does more jus- 
 tice to him in describing the courage and constancy he dis- 
 played. " As Anteeus," he s:iys, " is fabled to have sprung 
 up with renewed vigour, as often as the blows of Hercules 
 felled him to the earth, so did adversity operate upon the Pope ; 
 who, when he seemed to have been depressed, and most un- 
 fortunate, rose again with a spirit more constant and resolute, 
 promising himself more than ever for the future, and having 
 nothing to build his hopes upon, but the resources of his own 
 vigorous mind, and that abiding confidence, which he openly- 
 expressed, that, as he had undertaken the war influenced by 
 no private interests of his own, but for the mere and single 
 desire to see Italy freed, he should have the assistance of God 
 in his progress, and therefore could not fail of bringing it 
 ultimately to a prosperous result." 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 95 
 
 CH A P. 
 II. 
 
 arms^ and had displayed considerable talents 
 for the actual conduct of war, in a campaign 
 which he undertook at the command of his un- 
 cle, Sixtus IV. Although he possessed no extra- 
 ordinary erudition himself, he encouraged learn- 
 ed men, patronised the professors of the tine 
 arts with equal judgment and munificence, and 
 gave in no small degree the impulse to that 
 spirit of learning and refinement which made 
 the ensuing years of Leo X.^s pontificate so 
 brilliant. His virtuous and extensive views, the 
 courage and decision of his character, gained for 
 him great admiration in his own time, and, if it 
 be true, as has been alleged, that his restless 
 and enterprising spirit led some bold minds to 
 those enquiries, which ultimately destroyed the 
 notion of the infallibility of Popes, and effected 
 the reformation of religion, these are circum- 
 stances which should seem to form no reason 
 for posterity's withholding from his memory 
 that respect to which the bolder and better parts 
 of his character are entitled. 
 
 The satisfaction which Louis could not but Leo x. is 
 feel, at being freed from an enemy so powerful Pope!^ 
 and so implacable as Julius, was not dimi- 
 nished by the choice the conclave had made of 
 his successor. (a) The cardinal de' Medici, who 
 
 (a) The reasons which occasioned his election are variously 
 stated ; it is believed by some writers, that his state of health, 
 which at that time was very precarious, induced tlie car- 
 dinals to elect him ; others attribute it, as it should seem 
 with greater probability, to the influence which his rank, his 
 character, and the proofs he had manifested of ability to dis- 
 
96 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, assumed the tiara under the title of Leo X.^ was 
 
 '. — of high and honourable birth ; acknow ledged 
 
 on all hands to possess rare accomplishments, 
 and reputed to he of a gentle and pacific tem- 
 per. He announced immediately on his ascend- 
 ing the apostolical throne^ a desire to restore 
 tranquillity to Europe. Louis offered to sub- 
 mit the arrangement of the terms on which a 
 peace should be established to the decision of 
 Leo^ on condition that his holiness would not 
 oppose his designs on Milan ; but the coldness 
 and evasiveness of the Pope's reply, convinced 
 Louis that he had adopted the designs of his 
 predecessor, and was^ like Julias, bent upon 
 extinguishing the power of France in Italy. 
 He prepared therefore to effect his purpose in 
 his own way ; concluded a treaty of peace for 
 one year with Ferdinand, ratified that which he 
 had made with the Venetian state, and endea- 
 voured to induce the Sw iss again to engage in 
 his cause . He sent la Tremoille, who had for- 
 merly commanded them^ to the diet at Lucerne 
 for the purpose of effecting this object^ but the 
 general soon discovered that the Pope's in- 
 fluence had preceded him. The Swiss would 
 
 charge so important an office during the papacy of Julius II. 
 had given him in the sacred college. — Roscoe, LeoX., vol. ii. 
 p. 174, and the authorities there cited. Mezeray accounts 
 for it with some humour. He says, the cabal of young car- 
 dinals having observed that the oldest were sometimes the 
 most passionate, resolved to try whether among the younger 
 ones there might not be found one more temperate, and for 
 this reason they elected Giovanni de' Medici. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. . 97 
 
 hardly listen to his proposals^ and wonld give chap. 
 
 him no other answer than this ; that they \^ ould '- — 
 
 continue the friends of Louis^ provided he would 
 attempt nothing against the Pope, or the new 
 duke of Milan, whom they had taken under 
 their protection. When Louis's determination 
 to enforce his claims became apparent, they did 
 more ; they undertook, at the Pope's solicita- 
 tion, to oppose his entrance into Italy ; and, 
 contrary to their custom, they took up arms 
 without the immediate promise of pay. 
 
 Leo in the meantime had enofaored the assist- ^''^.^ar 's 
 
 ~ ~ contiiiued. 
 
 ance of other powers to thwart Louis's enter- 
 prise. Ferdinand, notwithstanding his recent 
 treaty, was as ready as ever to violate it. Maxi- 
 milian required little persuasion to join in a 
 war, provided somebody else paid for it ; and 
 Henry VIll. of England, who mistook the vain 
 restlessness of his temper for a thirst of glory, 
 and the selfish suggestions of Wolsey for 
 maxims of sound policy, undertook to invade 
 France, and to pay 100,000 crowns for the 
 maintenance of Maximilian's army. A league 
 was made and signed at Mechlin, [a] on the 
 part of these monarchs and of the Pope, who 
 also employed such power as the church pos- 
 sessed over the minds of men in aid of the 
 temporal efforts of his allies to harass France. 
 
 Louis knew the resources of his own country The defeat 
 well enough not to be dismayed at these indica- French at 
 tions of hostilitv, and had been too often threat- 
 
 (a) Rym. Foed., vol. vi. p. i. 41. 
 VOL, I. H 
 
98 THE LIFE AND TIMES" 
 
 CHAP, ened to be greatly alarmed at the seemingly 
 
 '. — formidable alliance which was formed against 
 
 him. He knew that much would depend upon 
 the promptness with which he struck his first 
 blow, and therefore marched a powerful army 
 into Italy under the command of la Tremoille, 
 with which that general crossed the Alps be- 
 fore the Swiss, who had intended to oppose 
 his passage^ were aware of his design. He then 
 relieved Milan, and made himself master of 
 Ast and Alexandria. The Venetians at the 
 same time, attacked and gained Cremona and 
 its dependencies ; Genoa was taken by the 
 French fleet ; and every thing seemed to promise 
 a conclusion of the war, as favourable to the 
 French arms as the expedition had been rapid. 
 Excepting Como and Novara, none of the 
 Milanese cities remained faithful to the duke. 
 To the latter place he retired under the safe- 
 guard of the same Swiss who had sold his father 
 to the French, and who endeavoured by their 
 fidelity to the son, to wipe away the stain which 
 that nefarious transaction had left upon their 
 reputation. La Tremoille arrived before No- 
 vara with 6,000 German lanz-knechts, 4,000 
 French foot, and a few companies of gendarmes, 
 and invested the place, contrary to the advice of 
 Trivulzio, who wished to wait for the coming 
 up of some of the duke of Gueldres' troops, un- 
 der the command of Tavannes. La Tremoille 
 began the attack, and soon discovered that his 
 precipitancy had led him into an error. He 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 99 
 
 effected a breach in the walls, but hearing- that <^h^^- 
 
 . II 
 the Swiss reinforcement was hastening- onward, — — 
 
 he paused just at the moment when nothing* 
 but perseverance could have retrieved his mis- 
 take. He withdrew to Vig-evano, about two 
 miles distant ; the succours entered No vara by 
 night ; a council was held, in which the Swiss 
 leader Mottino proposed the bold design of 
 attacking' the French in their camp, and per- 
 suaded his countrymen to attempt it. The 
 march was commenced soon after midnight. 
 The Swiss knew that the ground which their 
 enemies had taken up, was so marshy that 
 their cavalry could not act. They therefore 
 divided their own force, consisting entirely of 
 foot, into two bodies; one of which was to pre- 
 vent the approach of the cavalry, and the other 
 was to attack the French artillery ; for in that 
 confident spirit which could alone ensure the 
 success of so desperate an undertaking, they had 
 left their own guns behind. By daybreak, they 
 had arranged their order of battle ; la Tremoille, 
 who, although he had expected nothing so 
 little as that he should be attacked, and who^ 
 therefore, laboured under all the disadvantages 
 of a surprise, prepared gallantly to receive them. 
 His cannon was in front, consisting of two and 
 twenty pieces, and to the German lances was 
 committed the care of protecting them. The 
 first discharge mowed down whole files of the 
 Swiss ; but they endured the fire with unexam- 
 pled bravery, marched up to the very mouths 
 
 H 2 
 
100 
 
 CHAP. 
 II. 
 
 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 of the cannon J and came to an engagement 
 with the lanz-knechts, whom they looked upon 
 as their rivals in that trade of blood which they 
 had so long candied on without competition^ 
 and against whom they had consequently an 
 unextinguishable animosity. For two hours 
 the lanz-knechts disputed the ground with ad- 
 mirable firmness, but at length they were over- 
 powered ; the Swiss got possession of the guns 
 and turned them with slaughtering effect upon 
 their late owners. The gendarmes in the mean- 
 time stood by, wholly unable to take any part 
 in the conflict, [a) Besides the opposition which 
 the second division of the Swiss offered to the 
 assault of the cavalry^ there was a wood on one 
 side of them, and on the other a bog, in which 
 the horses sunk at every step up to their knees, 
 and which was cut across by deep trenches. 
 After the artillery was taken, it was in vain to 
 keep up the fight. La Tremoille, who was 
 badly wounded^ ordered a retreat, which was 
 effected, but not without considerable loss. The 
 
 (a) There was one instance on the contrary, which is at 
 the same time a striking proof of the force of paternal af- 
 fection. Robert de la Mark, the father of the seigneur de 
 Fleuranges, who commanded the lanz-knechts, and of the 
 Seigneur de Jamets, who was in the same regiment, saw that 
 his sons were no longer up and fighting. Followed by a 
 hundred of his own troop, he leaped the trenches and charged 
 the Swiss so vigorously that he broke them, reached the place 
 where his sons had been engaged, found them both on the 
 ground severely wounded, and carried them safely off. The 
 alder Fleuranges had received forty-six wounds. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 101 
 
 cavalry escaped alinost unhurt, for tlie SmIss chap. 
 had no horse to pursue them with ; but the ' 
 infantry were miserably massacred. Of the 
 French it is said that 8,000 fell, and nearly as 
 many of the Swiss, among whom was the leader 
 Mottino, by whom this daring attack had been 
 planned. («) 
 
 The effect of this defeat was electrical. All The 
 the places which the French had taken, imme- again ex- 
 diately opened their gates to the duke of Milan itaiy. 
 and the Swiss, and again the French forces were 
 wholly driven out of Italy. Public rejoicings 
 were made in Homeland the confederate powers 
 indulged the belief that the strength of France 
 was so paralysed by this disaster, that the me- 
 ditated attack of Henry and the emperor could 
 not fail of entire success. (^) Leo X. congratu- 
 
 (a) Guicciardini, 1. ix, 
 
 [b] The sensation which the news of this victory occa- 
 sioned in Rome, may be gathered from a letter by cardinal 
 Bambridge, archbishop of York, then resident there as the 
 English minister, to Henry VIII., who was about to invade 
 France. After giving the particulars of the battle, he says — 
 *' The Popis holines atte the hering hereof haith more de- 
 claride hymself against the Franshmen than he haith doon 
 heretofore, as it is here uppynyonyde, by reason that this 
 night he haith shotte in the castill Angill a solempne peall of 
 gonnes in tryumphe of the premisses. The Popis saide 
 holines and all od'r grelt men here doith now looke daylie 
 to here that your grace shall utterlie extermynate the Fransh 
 king, which I shall daylie besiche the moste blysside try- 
 nytie to bring to such pass as your grace woll desire with 
 prousp'ous p'servacione of youre moste highe and noble 
 astate. From Rome in verray grett haste as apperith the 
 10th day of June, alt thre of the cloke aftire that the sonne 
 
102 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, lated the Swiss upon their victory, in terms 
 '. which were calculated to increase the arros^ance 
 
 of those hardy bands, who, patting aside their 
 unquestionable courage, seem to have acquired 
 the praises and benedictions of his hohness with 
 as small an outlay of virtue as can be imagined. 
 Louis after this made an indirect attempt to 
 propitiate the Pope by breaking up the concilia- 
 bulum, and acknowledging the validity of the 
 council of the Lateran ; but Leo, although he 
 received again to his favour the rebellious car- 
 dinals, did not relax in his hostility towards 
 Louis, and endeavoured to detach from his alli- 
 ance the only power that adhered to him, the 
 state of Venice, by reconciling its dilFerence with 
 the emperor ; a project which the fidelity or the 
 policy of the Venetians rendered futile. 
 ^^^^^^^- Henry VIIL raised an army of 25,000 men, 
 vin. in- which he sent to Calais in May, under the 
 
 vades "^ 
 
 Italy. command of the earl of Shrewsbury and lord 
 Talbot, and the transport of his troops being 
 completed, he sailed in person at the end of 
 June to Calais, and proceeded thence to the 
 frontier town of Terouenne, before which he sate 
 down with his army. The needy Maximilian, 
 who in his love or want of money often for- 
 got his dignity, joined the English forces in 
 the character of a volunteer and a subaltern. 
 
 was set, 1513." MSS. Cotton. Vitell. B. 2. p. 42. Fiddes. 
 Coll. 8. 
 
 This pious priest was afterwards poisoned at Rome by one 
 of his domestics. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 103 
 
 He brought with him 8,000 horse, and a body chap. 
 of Swiss infantry, which were taken under the ' 
 
 command and into the pay of Henry. Max- 
 imihan himself wore the EngUsh cognizance 
 on his arms, and received a hundred crowns a 
 day for his entertainment. 
 
 Louis collected an army to oppose the English 
 invasion, which he marched to the frontier, and, 
 having ordered the governors of Picardy and 
 Normandy to strengthen all the fortresses in 
 their provinces, he repaired in person to the 
 seat of war, with the wise determination of 
 making the campaign a defensive one on his 
 part, and of avoiding, at all hazards, an engage- 
 ment with foes to whom delay must be inevitable 
 defeat. ^ 
 
 The siege of Terouenne had lasted a month, J/^Telof- 
 and the garrison was beginning to feel all the 
 inconveniences of a want of provision and am- 
 munition. It had become absolutely necessary 
 to convey to it some relief, which could only 
 be effected by breaking through the besieging 
 force ; and this delicate and difficult task was 
 committed to Imbaud de Ponterailles, who com- 
 manded a body of Albanian cavalry, called Stra- 
 diots, a description of troops recently brought 
 into use, wliose valour and efficiency had been ex- 
 perienced by the V^enetians, for whom they had 
 fought in the recent wars, and who, by reason of 
 the lightness of their equipments, and the rapidity 
 of their movements, were admirably adapted for 
 effiecting this enterprise. At the head of eight 
 
 enne. 
 
104 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. hun(Jrecl of these Stradiots^ each of whom carried 
 
 II. . 
 ^ before him a bag of powder and half a salted 
 
 pig, Ponterailles advanced. He charged so vi- 
 gorously that he broke through the EngHsh 
 force which guarded the approach to that part 
 of the wall of Terouenne at which he aimed, 
 and, riding directly up to the fosse, each man 
 threw down the provision he had brought, leav- 
 ing the besieged to get tliem in. The Stradiots 
 then, making face against the enemy, returned 
 in good order, and effected a junction with the 
 main body of the gendarmerie, having executed 
 their undertaking with perfect success and with 
 extraordinary dexterity. But this ^>as the limit 
 Jnhe*"'^ of their triumph. The English, under Lord 
 Spurs. Talbot, accompanied by a small body of cavalry^ 
 had marched onwards for the purpose of en- 
 countering the French gendarmes. This move- 
 ment was perceived, and the French^ whose 
 orders w ere not to come to an engagement, if 
 by any means it might be avoided^ retired in 
 good order^ and so rapidly that they were soon 
 out of sight of the English,, and dreamt of no- 
 thing less than of being pursued by infantry. 
 They had reached the heights of Guinegate^ the 
 day was oppressively hot, the men-at-arms, tired 
 with their hasty retreat^ dismounted, and had 
 taken off their helmets and sate down to refresh 
 themselves, when the alarm of the enemy's ap- 
 proach was given. Tlie English knights^ who 
 had rode on before the foot, had come on the 
 French wholly unawares, and seeing their dis- 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 105 
 
 order, vvitli more rashness than anvlhinjj: but ^i*ap. 
 
 the success of their inidertaking could have ex- '- — 
 
 cused, they made a fierce charge. The duke de 
 Longueville and hx Palice were the first to 
 make head against them^ but were immediately 
 taken^ although the latter afterwards escaped. 
 The others mounted, and retreated as well as 
 they could ; but the English, flushed with tlieir 
 triumph, pursued them so hotly that the retreat 
 soon became a flight, w liich was kept up with 
 such speed that the French could not make an 
 attempt at rallying until they reached Blangi, 
 where the main body of their army was quartered. 
 Several prisonei's were taken, among'st whom 
 was the chevalier Bayard, (a) but very few men 
 
 [a] Daniel, p. 318. 
 
 When Bayard saw that he was left nearly alone, and 
 that it was in vain to continue the fight, and impossible to 
 avoid being taken, he looked round him, and seeing an Eng- 
 lish man-at-arms who, breathless with his exertions, had 
 taken off his arms, and was sitting under a tree, he rode up 
 to him, and, leaping from his horse, placed his sword against 
 his throat, bidding him yield. The Englishman, thus sur- 
 prised, could do no otherwise than comply. As soon as he 
 had formally surrendered himself, Bayard said, " Know, 
 Sir Knight, that I am the chevalier Bayard, and I yield my- 
 self your prisoner : there is my sword ; but you shall give 
 it me again, if need be, in our way to the camp." The Eng- 
 hshman then led him to the emperor and the king of Eng- 
 land, who received him in a manner worthy of his fame. 
 After a few days. Bayard told the knight that he was tired 
 of staying, and that he meant to depart. " But your ransom," 
 said the Englishman. *' Why," replied Bayard, " we will 
 set my ransom against your's ; for, you know, you were first 
 my prisoner." The matter was referred to the king and the 
 
106 
 
 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, ^ygre killed; and the ridiculous nature of the 
 
 n. 
 
 surprise and its result were so forcibly felt, that 
 the French ingenionsly blunted the sarcasms 
 to which they were exposed by anticipating 
 them, and by calling- this fight the Battle of the 
 Spurs, [a) If the combined forces had followed 
 up the advantage which they had thus acciden- 
 tally gained, they might have forced the French 
 army to an engagement^ w hich, consideriug the 
 great disparity of forces^ could hardly have ter- 
 minated any otherwise than to the signal ad- 
 vantage of the confederates The favourable 
 moment was however lost; and Louis availed 
 himself of the supineness or want of skill of his 
 enemies to remove his army from Blangi. 
 
 Some dissensions, which had unfortunately 
 command takcH placc bctweeu Francois de Piennes, go- 
 vernor ofPicardy, and the duke de Longueville, 
 had given the king great disquiet, and were be- 
 lieved to have contributed, in a degree, to the 
 unlucky day of the Spurs. In order to put a 
 stop to the disorder which had arisen in the 
 army from these quarrels, Louis, who was more 
 than satisfied with the skill and conduct which 
 Francis had displayed in the expedition to Na- 
 
 emperor, who decided in favour of Bayard, only restraining- 
 him from joining the French camp for six weeka. — M^m. 
 de Bayard. 
 
 («) The chevalier made the best excuse that could be of- 
 fered for his countrymen's defeat, when, in reply to the ban- 
 tering- of the king of England, he said, the orders of the gen- 
 darmes were, to rini no risk, btit to retreat, even at a gallop, 
 jf it should become necessary. — Mem. de Bavard. 
 
 Francis 
 takes the 
 
 of the 
 army 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 107 
 
 varre, coiiimittecl to liiai the command ol' the chap. 
 
 H. 
 
 army and the care of the campaign, upon thai — ^ — 
 plan of defensive ojjeration which lie had deter- 
 mined to follow, and the policy of which had 
 already been signally apparent. Francis acted 
 up to the king's wishes with admirable prudence, 
 and with a forbearance which, considering his 
 }outh and the fire of his temperament, was 
 hardly to be looked for. He removed the army 
 to Encre on the Somme, a post which effectually 
 protected the whole of the frontier, and was well 
 adapted for an attack, if the circumstances of 
 the w ar should make that expedient. 1 he army 
 being thus secured, the possession of Terouenne 
 became a matter of little importance, and its 
 defenders were directed to capitulate for its sur- 
 render. The eaoernessof the besiegers enabled 
 them to effect this upon very favourable terms ; 
 and Henry, acting under the insidious advice of 
 the emperor, who had been often kept in check 
 by that fortress, demolished the place whicli it 
 had cost him so much money and pains to win. 
 
 While Louis was thus securing his frontier ibeSwiss 
 from an enemy ^vho had not shewn himself very Kance*,^ 
 formidable, he was assailed by another of a very Dijon!*'^^*" 
 different kind. The Swiss, whose arrooance was 
 inflated by their victory at Novara, and in whose 
 minds the affront given them by Louis still 
 rankled, determined to carry the war into Bur- 
 gundy, and actually marched to Dijon, to m hich 
 they laid siege. The place was very weak, and 
 
108 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CMAP. \.j^ Tiemoille, who defended it, being wholly 
 '- — unable to meet them in the field, adopted the dis- 
 creet course of endeavouring to pacify them. 
 He had made some Swiss officers prisoners in a 
 sally, to whom he m'ged the old friendship 
 which had Ions; subsisted between their nation 
 and France, the value in which the king held 
 their services, and the desire Louis had to renew 
 his alliance w ith them, w hich the general w as em- 
 powered to effect, in stead of meeting them as 
 enemies. He accompanied his persuasions with 
 some well-timed praises and presents, and sent 
 his captives home to their own camp safe and 
 TremoiUe w ithout rausoni . His ffenerositv ])roduced exactl v 
 
 pacines ^ • . " 
 
 them. the effect he had calculated upon. A safe con- 
 duct was dispatched to him, and he was invited 
 to visit the Swiss leaders. An interview took 
 place ; he found among his enemies men w horn 
 he had often led to victory in the Italian wars, and 
 made so good a use of his knowledge of their 
 characters that they concluded a treaty with him, 
 by which, on the present i)ayment of 400,000 
 crowns, which was raised by himself and his 
 officers, and the promise of all arrears of the 
 pensions they claimed to be due to them, leav- 
 ing other questions to be settled at future con- 
 ferences, they consented to raise the siege, and 
 marched back to their own countrv. The kino* 
 affected to disapprove of la Tremoille's treaty, 
 and refused to ratify it; but he knew, and all 
 the world perceived, that France was protected 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 109 
 
 from a most heavy calamity by the general's chap. 
 
 prudent and successful neg-ociation. (a) '. — 
 
 The allies of France had, about the same time. The battle 
 
 . ot Flodden 
 
 experienced their share of disasters. The Ve- Field is 
 netians encountered a signal defeat by the Spa- 
 niards, and the unfortunate king of Scotland had 
 lost his life and his crov^n in the slaughtering 
 fight of Flodden Field. Louis^ however, had no 
 leisure to indulge in sympathy for his friends. 
 The presence of an invading army on the fron- 
 tiers of Pi card y engaged all his anxiety ; for if 
 Henry had determined to press his attack^ that 
 which Louis was most desirous of avoiding,, a 
 general engagement, must have been fought. 
 Maximilian's dishonest counsels, however, again 
 prevailed with the English monarchy and averted 
 the threatened danger from France. The em- 
 peror wanted to gain Tournay^ which lay very 
 conveniently for the dominions of his grandson 
 Charles ; and he therefore persuaded the king 
 not to attempt Picardy, but to besiege Tournay^ Henry 
 which Henry took after three days, and entered xournay, 
 w ith an ostentation that made the utter imbeci- f^iJ^^"^^' 
 lity of his conduct in the war he had undertaken ^'^"'^^• 
 most notorious and ridiculous. His childish 
 vanity^ which had not yet matured into the dis- 
 gusting cruelty that marked his after-life, and 
 makes hi^ name one of the most odious in Eng- 
 lish history, being satisfied, he returned to his 
 own dominions, and relieved France from a 
 foe whose power^ if it had been well directed^ 
 
 (a) Du Bellay, 1. i. 
 
I 10 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 II. 
 
 would probably have realized the worst fears 
 which its first appearance had occasioned. 
 15U. In the death of his wife, Anne of Brittany, 
 
 Dea h of , "^ 
 
 the Queen which happened on the 9th of January, (a) 
 
 of France. ^ • i i rrt- i 
 
 Louis had to encounter an atiiiction much 
 greater than could have been occasioned by 
 the whole world in arms against him. His 
 affection for her had been evinced in the most 
 unquestionable manner. He had endured much 
 for her before his marriage^ and ever since their 
 union she had, notwithstanding her virtues and 
 amiable temper, been the cause of much dis- 
 quiet to him. Her piety^ which was remark- 
 able^ was deeply tinctured with the supersti- 
 tions of the timeSj and the intrigues of the emis- 
 saries of the Pope induced her to think that her 
 husband had placed his soul in jeopardy by en- 
 gaging in a war with the head of the church. Her 
 remonstrances on this subject often exhausted 
 his temper ; her obstinacy respecting her here- 
 ditary domain of Brittany traversed his plans ; 
 and her quarrels with the countess d'Angou- 
 leme had given rise to factions and intrigues 
 which the upright spirit of Louis detested ; but 
 his respect for her good qualities, and his ar- 
 dent love for her, surmounted all the annoy- 
 ances she had occasioned him. At her death, 
 his grief for some time wholly overpowered 
 him^ and he shut himself up during eight days 
 that he might indulge it without restraint. He 
 interdicted all public entertainments in the 
 
 [a) Le P. Daniel, t. vii. 
 
OF FRAN'CIS THE FIRST. Ill 
 
 court, and dressed himself in black, a sort of chap. 
 
 mourning then very unusual, and contrary to '■ 
 
 court etiquette^ although it had been worn l)y 
 the queen for her former husband. 
 
 The death of the queen removed the g reatest i^h. 
 obstacle to Francis's advancement. Louis kept ofTrands 
 the promise he had made to the states at Tours^ princes^ 
 and the young duke, then in the tAventieth year 
 of his age, was mariied on the 10th of May at 
 St. Germain en Laye, to the princess Claude, 
 the king's eldest daughter^ and in her mother's 
 rights the heiress of Brittany. She was, like 
 her mother, in a slight degree lame ; her per- 
 son was agreeable^ though not handsome. In 
 the qualities of her mind she resembled her fa- 
 ther^ and was virtuous^ intelligent^ prudent, 
 gentle, and pious ; qualities, which, although 
 they failed to fix the constancy of Francis, en- 
 sured his regard and respect for her^ and en- 
 abled her to endure without repining, those 
 infidelities which, to a less chastened spirit, 
 would have been a source of constant and bitter 
 grief. 
 
 At about the same time Louis was induced Pioposais 
 to think of a second marriage^ a step to which nage be- 
 
 tween 
 
 probably nothing but his country's good would Louis and 
 at his age have urged him. The duke de Lon- ceL^Mary 
 gueville, who had been taken prisoner on the i°and°^ 
 day of the Spurs, had discovered, during his 
 stay in England^ that the late expedition had 
 not quite satisfied the court there. The con- 
 viction that he had been made the dupe of the 
 
112 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, crafty Maximilian, had, though somewhat tar- 
 
 '. dily, forced itself on the king's mind, and a 
 
 desire to be revenged on his perfidious ally 
 succeeded to the thirst for distinction in arms 
 which he had persuaded himself he felt. Henry 
 had a sister, the princess Mary, now of a 
 marriageable age, Avhose beauty was the theme 
 of universal admiration, and whom the king 
 was particularly desirous to bestow out of his 
 kingdom. She had been promised to Charles, 
 Maximilian's grandson, but the treaty had been 
 evaded by the council of Flanders, to Henry ^s 
 great discontent. («) The duke de Longueville 
 knew that Louis had sworn to testify his affec- 
 tion for his late queen by an eternal widow- 
 hood, and that his age (he was now fifty-two 
 years old) and his infirmities, the consequence of 
 an irregular youth, and of the labours of his ma- 
 turer years, were little favourable to matrimony; 
 but with that facility which politicians possess 
 in forgetting or under- valuing all that lies in 
 the way of their designs, he did not hesitate to 
 propose this union to Louis as the certain means 
 of converting an enemy, Avho might be dan- 
 gerous, into an ally, whose support would be 
 extremely serviceable. His reasons prevailed ; 
 he received authority to propose the marriage 
 Terms of to Hcury, who acccptcd it with eagerness,(6) 
 ^^^ ^' and it was settled that the princess should re- 
 ceive a dowry of 100,000 crow ns, that a treaty 
 of amity during the lives of the two kings 
 
 [a] Hall, 567. [b) Rymer, \ol. xiii. p. 143. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 113 
 
 should be entered into, and that Henry should chap. 
 receive an annuity of 100,000 crowns by way of "' 
 recompense for the claims en France, which he 
 thereby ceded. 
 
 Mary had fixed her affections upon Charles 
 Brandonj(«) duke of Suffolk, the king's foster 
 brother, and the favourite companion of his 
 youth. The duke's personal accomplishments, 
 and his gallant bearing had made him univer- 
 sally beloved and admired in the English court, 
 while the king's partiality for him excused, 
 and encouraged the daring hopes he had enter- 
 tained. The proposals of the French monarch 
 however dashed down his projects, and the 
 
 (a) Mar)''s letter to Louis XII. is preserved in the Cot- 
 tonian library, — (Vitell. c. xi. f. 156.) and has been given by- 
 Mr. Ellis in the first series of his Original Letters, vol, i, 
 p. 112. The formal expressions of her letter are a singular 
 mockery of what must have been the feelings of her heart 
 at the time she was thus forced to foresfo her strong- love for 
 Brandon. The following is the letter : 
 
 *' Mons"" bien humblement a vostre bonne grace je me re- 
 commende. Mons'" jay par Mons'" levesque de Lencoln receu 
 les tres afFectueuses leitres qiiil vous a pleu naguaires mes- 
 cripre, qui mont este a tresgrant joye et comfort : vous asseu- 
 rant Monsr quil ny a riens que tant je desire que de vous veoir. 
 Et le roy, Mons"^ et frere, fait toute extreme diligence pour 
 mon alee de la mer qui au plaisir de Dieu sera briesve. 
 Vous suppliant Mons"" me vouloir cependant pour ma tres 
 singuliere consolacion souuent faire scavoir de voz nouuelles 
 ensemble voz bons et agreeables plaisirs pour vous y obeir 
 et complaire, aidant nostre Createur, qui vous doiot Mods'" 
 bonne vis et longuement bien prosperer. 
 
 *' De la main de vre' bien humble compaigne. 
 
 " Marik." 
 
 VOL. I. I 
 
114 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 II. 
 
 princess ^vas doomed to experience the com- 
 mon fate of persons of her rank, Avhose passions 
 and interests are often unrelentingly and unnatu- 
 rally sacrificed to state policy, and the schemes 
 of sordid ambition. The affiancing' was per- 
 formed by proxy in August, and in October 
 she was conveyed by her brother and his queen 
 to the sea-shore^ whence she embarked for 
 Calais. She was received upon her landing by 
 the duke de Vendosme, mIio soon afterwards 
 conducted her to Abbeville, which place she 
 15H. reached on the 8th of the same month. Louis 
 met her in a sort of incognito, at a short dis- 
 tance from this place, and after an interview 
 with her, in which he found that even the flo- 
 rid descriptions he had heard of her beauty 
 were below the realitv, he withdrew, and the 
 princess continued her progress to the city, 
 at the gates of which she was met by the duke 
 de Valois, who welcomed her according to the 
 forms prescribed by stale etiquette ; and her 
 reception was greeted with processions and pa- 
 geants as magnificent as became the occasion. 
 Dressed in a gorgeous habit^ and mounted on 
 a horse ^' trapped in goldsmith *s work very 
 richly,^^ she made her entrance, followed by 
 thirty-six ladies of her retinue, of whom the 
 Marriage ill-fatcd Auuc Bolcyu, then a child, was one. 
 nation of The archcrs of her guard, and the waggons 
 cessMary loadcd with hcr appointments, closed the train. 
 On the follow ing day, the festival of St. Denis, 
 she w^as publicly married to Louis in the church 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 115 
 
 of Abbeville. On the 5th of November fol- ^hap. 
 lowing she was crowned in the cathedral of St. '— 
 
 Denis, and on the (.th she entered Paris as the 
 queen of France, [a) 
 
 Francis had oood reason to be displeased at Entertain- 
 
 ^ ^ *■ ments in 
 
 an event which was so pregnant with danger to honour of 
 his expectations. If the king should have a son^ 
 his chance of ascending the throne became ex- 
 tremely remote^ and that event seemed by no 
 means to be improbable. Whatever might be 
 the ext ^it of his disappointment he suffered no 
 part of it to appear by any external token. He 
 assisted at the celebration of the queen's corona- 
 tion, and took an active part in the jousts and 
 sports which were held in honour of her entry, 
 maintaining the fame of the French chivalry 
 against the English knights, the chief leader 
 of whom was the duke of Suffolk, and \a ho 
 acquitted themselves with great credit, [b) The 
 beauty and amiable manners of the young- 
 queen engaged all hearts in her favour. The 
 vindictive countess of Angouleme forgot the 
 fierceness of her temper, and Francis himself 
 was believed to have been so much fascinated 
 by the charms of Mary that his friends thought 
 it necessary to caution him against indulging 
 
 (a) Hall, f. 640. The pageant which was prepared for 
 this occasion is in the Cotton MSS. — Vide Appendix, 
 No. II. 
 
 [b) Hall gives a minute account of these tournays, which 
 is curious and characteristic, although the old chronicler's 
 national partiality displays itself very unequivocally. Ap- 
 pendix, No. HI. 
 
 I? 
 
Ii5 
 
 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 II. 
 
 Louis falls 
 
 mortally 
 
 ill. 
 
 V 
 
 X, 
 
 151.5. 
 Death of 
 Louis. 
 
 His cha- 
 racter. 
 
 a passion, which, besides its criminality, might 
 have been destructive of his interests, (a) 
 
 The exertions which Louis had made in his 
 journey to receive his c[ueen, and, as it was 
 suposed, his efforts to affect a youthfuhiess 
 that had long departed from him^ brought on 
 an access of gout to which he had been fre- 
 quently subject. He was so enfeebled by ill- 
 ness as to be obliged to lie on a couch when he 
 witnessed the tournays ; and his indisposition 
 soon increased to such a degree as to confine 
 him to his bed. Some alarming symptoms made 
 their appearance, but still his physicians did 
 not believe that his illness was mortal. Louis^ 
 who knew that his end was approaching^ sent 
 for the duke of Valois, and embracing him ten- 
 derly, said, " I am dying ; I leave our subjects 
 to your care.'^ Francis burst into tears, but 
 besought him to be of good cheer, and assured 
 him that the medical attendants had yet hopes. 
 Louis knew that they were mistaken, and after 
 a few hours of acute suffer! ng, expired in the 
 arms of Francis, who had never left his bed-side ; 
 and who proved by the tender assiduity ^vith 
 which he soothed his last moments that he was 
 worthy of the affection the king had ahvays dis- 
 played towards him. 
 
 It was on the 1st of January, (1515) when 
 she had been married only eighty-two days, that 
 the youthful queen was left a widow, and that 
 France lost one of her best kings. Excepting 
 
 («) Renault, Abr. Chroii., t. i. p. 366. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 117 
 
 his behaviour to his first wife, Jeanne de France,, chap. 
 
 which admits of some extenuation, and one in- '. 
 
 stance of cruelty at Peschiera, for which he had 
 probably little to answer in his own person, 
 Louis's character stands without any very grave 
 reproach. He has been accused of avarice ; but 
 it has been by those who cannot distinguish be- 
 tween that vice and a disinclination to expense 
 which is the result of sentiment and reflection, 
 and which in him arose chieflv from a desire to 
 spare his subjects, (a) He was just and merciful 
 in the administration of his royal power. (6) The 
 care of his people was the object of his con- 
 stant solicitude, and their love for him living, 
 and their grief at his death, proved their sense 
 of his goodness, (c) His wars were the least 
 
 [a] He had perceived Francis's disposition to expense, and 
 his conviction of the inconvenience and distress which pro- 
 digality occasions, induced him to say of him, with prophetic 
 anxiety, " Ah, nous travaillons en vain, ce gros gar9on 
 gatera tout." 
 
 [b] The persons who had been the instruments o^ his 
 persecution when duke of Orleans, saw his accession to the 
 throne with dismay. Some base courtiers reminded liim of 
 the opportunity which he had now of making his enemies 
 feel his resentment, to whom he made the dignified reply, 
 which is so well known, " It would be unworthy of the king 
 of France to revenge the injuries of the duke of Orleans." 
 La Tremoille, who had made him captive at St. Aubin du 
 Cromier, was distinguished by his favour, and raised to that 
 rank which his military talents well qualified him to fill. 
 
 [c] The public criers, whose office it was to announce the 
 deaths of eminent persons, paraded the streets of Paris, ex- 
 claiming, with undisscmbled grief, " The good king Louis, 
 the father of his people, is dead 1" 
 
118 THE LIFE AND TIMES, &C. 
 
 CHAP. 
 II. 
 
 excusable of his weaknesses, but in engaging in 
 them, he believed, hon ever erroneously, that his 
 honour and the safety^ as well as the interests 
 of the nation, were concerned ; and his resent- 
 ment against the Swiss, the yielding to which 
 occasioned him considerable disquiet, was the 
 consequence of then' insolence and perfidy. 
 
 He was of gentle temper ; naturally inclined 
 to peacC;, but brave as the bravest in battle ; 
 and if he did little to increase the splendour of 
 his reign by parade and ostentation, he en- 
 titled himself to the more honourable praise of 
 having set an example of dignified morality and 
 exalted virtue, which made his court one of the 
 purest in the whole world. 
 
CHAP. III. 
 
 Francises accession and coronation — His first exercise 
 of power — the queen doivager marries the dvke of 
 Suffolk, and returiis to England — Francis determines 
 to attempt to regain the Milanese — State of the Eu" 
 ropean powe rs — Italy — Germany — Spain — Eng land 
 — The Swiss — Concludes treaties with England — 
 And the archduke of Austria—And Venice — And 
 makes proposals to the Siciss — Who refuse to accept 
 them — Sends Budee to the Pope — Who hesitates — 
 Genoa gained over to Franre — Francis raises money 
 by the sale of offices — Completes his army — And 
 moves it to Lyons — Difficulties of effecting a pas~ 
 sage to Italy — They are overcome — The French 
 army penetrate the Alps — Descend into Italy — Ajid 
 surprise Prospero Colonna in Villa Franca — The 
 Swiss defend the Milanese — The king proposes a 
 treati/, which is frustrated hy the practices of the 
 cardinal de Sion — The Siciss attack the French — 
 Battle of Marignan — And its results — Francis lays 
 siege to Milan, which is surrendered — He enters it 
 in triumph — Is master of the Milanese — And takes 
 up his quarters at Vigevano. 
 
121 
 
 CHAPTER 111. 
 
 On tl e 25th of January, 1515, Francis the ^ i-^is. 
 
 *' . Coronation 
 
 First received, in the cathedral of Rhenns, the of Fr.nds 
 
 iiii?r»i- ^'^^ First. 
 
 crown of his ancestors, from the hands ot Robert 
 de Lenoncourt, archbishop of Paris, (a) His 
 affability and courage, and the promise he had 
 already given of talents for governing, engaged 
 all hearts in his favour ; and, while the warlike 
 nobility of France knew that they had in him a 
 leader who would direct their martial ardour to 
 the path in which glory was to be won, the 
 other conditions of the people believed that he 
 would be al)le to secure the tranquillity and 
 prosperity of the nation by a wise and discreet 
 government at home, and by keeping in awe 
 all his foreign enemies. 
 
 Francis performed, among the first acts of his His first 
 reign, the grateful office of distinguishing and power. 
 recompensing those to whose affection and fide- 
 lity he was most indebted. 
 
 His mother, the countess d'Angouleme, was He creates 
 created a duchess ; his old preceptor, Gouffier al^hlss! 
 Boisy, was made his prime minister ; and Flori- ms^fHe'ndi 
 mond Robertet, who had long been practically a^jllfty.^ °^ 
 acquainted with the details of that important 
 
 («) Memoires de du Bellay, J. i. 
 
122 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, office, nas appointed his coadjutor. The duke 
 '. de Bourbon was mvested with the dignity of con- 
 stable of France. La Palice^ who rehnquished 
 his office of grand master of the king's household 
 to Gouffier Boisy, received a marechal's baton 
 in exchange ; and Antoine Duprat, the pre- 
 sident of the parliament of Paris, who had long 
 devoted his rare talents and profound know- 
 ledge to the service of the countess d'Angou- 
 leme and her party, was rewarded with the 
 seals and the office of chancellor. Anne de 
 Montmorency and Philip Chabot de Brion, 
 who had been educated with him, experienced 
 a share of his favour, and entered upon that 
 glorious career which they accomplished to the 
 nation's and their own honour, [a) 
 The queen Wliilc tlic public Tcjoiciugs for the accession 
 luarriesthe of tlic ncw mouarcli echoed throughout France, 
 jjiiffoik. there was one heart which feelings of anxious 
 and mournful passion forbade to join in the ge- 
 neral contentment. This was the vouno; dowa- 
 ger — not three months a bride, and yet a wi- 
 dow. That she could grieve deeply for Louis, 
 was, under the circumstances of their marriage, 
 wholly impossible, even if her affections had 
 been free ; and her conduct proves how little 
 she was likely to bewail the loss of that splen- 
 did station to which she had been so transiently 
 elevated. But she saw that her free condition 
 would expose her to new solicitations, and that 
 she had laid down her recent chains onlv for a 
 
 [a] MeiH. de du Btllay, 1. i. 
 
iir. 
 
 or FRANCIS THE FIRST. 123 
 
 moment, and perhaps to put on other and ^^jf^^ 
 heavier ones in their stead. The strengtii of 
 her affection for Suffolk prompted her to a 
 step full of peril. Without waiting for her 
 brother's consent, and determined to brave all 
 the consequences of his anger, rather than en- 
 dure the horrors of another marriage in which 
 her heart had no share, she offered Suffolk, who 
 was still in France, her hand, and told him at 
 the same time, that if he did not accept it in 
 four days, he should never have it. SuHblk 
 had had a recent conversation with Francis^ 
 who knew of their mutual passion, in which the 
 duke had promised the king, {a) that he would 
 take no steps in his suit to the c|ueen without 
 the consent of her brother ; but the frank offer 
 of Mary, and the determination she expressed 
 of entering some religious house on the con- 
 tinent, and never again returning to England^ 
 if he should reject it, induced him to violate 
 his promise at the risk of his head. They 
 were married in private ; and, although Fran- 
 cis, when the circumstance was communicated 
 to him, reproached Suffolk, and pointed out 
 to him the perl in vhich he stood, he good 
 naturedly wrote to Henry VIII., using his in- 
 tercession with him for the pardon of the cou- 
 ple whom the strength of their affection had 
 laid under his displeasure. Mary wrote to her 
 brother on the same subject, and avowed the 
 persuasions she had used to induce Suffolk to 
 
 [a) iMem. de Flcuranjres!. 
 
124 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, iiiarry her, taking upon herself all the blame 
 
 "^: that had been incurred, at the same time that she 
 
 deprecated his resentment in terms of affec- 
 tionate respect, [a) Henry, who had not yet be- 
 come familiar with the tast3 of blood, and who 
 saw that he could only undo what had been 
 done, by the execution of Suifolk, suffered the 
 affection he felt for his sister and his friend to 
 prevail, and he pardoned them. They were 
 publicly married at Calais, on their way to Eng- 
 land ; and Mary, ^Yho had left the land of her 
 birth the mournful bride of the French king, 
 returned the contented duchess of Suffolk, more 
 happy in the affection of the husband of her 
 heart, than she could have been made by all the 
 empty grandeur of royalty. 
 Francis With tho sccptic of Fraucc, the young mo- 
 
 attack the narch had assumed all those dangerous views 
 respecting the Milanese, which had rendered 
 Louis's latter years so full of disquiet. Neither 
 repeated disappointments nor exhausting de- 
 feats had been able to make him relinquish his 
 claims ; nor could the example of his ill for- 
 tune deter his successor from engaging in the 
 same inauspicious enterprise. The glory of 
 the French arms, too, had seemed, of late, to 
 wane, and the bitterest disgrace of all, that 
 
 {a) The letters of Francis aud of Mary are in the Cottoniaa 
 Library, (Caligula, D. vi.) but were so much damng-ed in 
 the fire at Westminster, that it is difficult, in some instances, 
 to gather the sense of them. A letter which Mary wrote to 
 her brother, on her return, has been printed by 31 r. Ellis, 
 in his First Scries, vol. i. p. 123. 
 
 Milanese. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 125 
 
 of Novarra, still rankled in the hearts of the <^ "ap. 
 
 . . Ill 
 nation's bravest champions. The necessity of '- — 
 
 some noble exploit in arms which should re- 
 trieve their lost honour^ was thus added to 
 the otiier inducements which stimulated Fran- 
 cis to war ; he determined to attempt the 
 reconquest of the Milanese^ and began ear- 
 nestly and rapidly to make his preparations 
 for that enterprise^ ^^ithout, however, avo^^ ing 
 their object. In order to understand more clearly state of the 
 the events to which this war gave rise, and ^^ hich poweS.^" 
 lent a colour to the whole course of Francises 
 life, it will be necessary to take a cursory view of 
 the great states of Europe, and of the relation in 
 which they severally stood towards France at 
 the young king's accession to the throne. 
 
 Italy consisted of five distinct and inde- itaiy. 
 pendent powers, without reckoning the smaller 
 feudal states which were connected with them 
 more or less intimately. These were Milan, 
 Florence, Rome, ^ enice, and Naples. 
 
 Maximilian Sforza, who had been restored to 
 the duchy of Milm by the Swiss, was naturally 
 interested in denying the validity of Francis's 
 claims, and in resisting any attempt ^vhich he 
 might make to enforce them. Florence and 
 Rome, although in the form of their government, 
 they differed essentially from each other, were 
 bound to ado})t one and the same line of policy, 
 whatever it might be, by means of the part} of 
 the Medici, which ruled in the republic, and 
 was at the head of the church ; and this policy 
 
12G THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 III. 
 
 was decidedly hostile to France. Leo justly 
 feared the existence of the French power in Italy. 
 Its influence had already detached from the holy 
 see some of the barons who held its fiefs, of 
 which Parma and Piacenza were the most im- 
 portant, and upon the restoration of which he 
 constantly insisted. He feared too, and n )t with- 
 out reason, that if the French should once gain the 
 Milanese, the temptation to renew their claims 
 on Naples, would be too stron g- to be resisted ; 
 and that a war must ensue, of which Italy would 
 be the theatre, while the states of the church 
 must be disturbed by tie frequent passage of 
 troops through them. Venice, who was slowly 
 recovering the consequences of the defeat her 
 armies had sustained under Louis XII., had learnt 
 to value the friendship, and to dread the resent- 
 ment of France, while her own interests on the 
 main land, which were not her most important 
 ones, could not suffer, and were even likely to be 
 improved by the execution of Francis's schemes, 
 even if they had been as extensive as the fears of 
 the pontiff suggested . Naples was in the peace- 
 able possession of Ferdinand, and sufficiently re- 
 mote from Milan to be safe from any immediate 
 attack, even if that state should fall into the 
 hands of the French ; but Ferdinand, who knew 
 upon how questionable a ground his title to the 
 kingdom stood, could not see without apprehen- 
 sion any attempt made upon the Milanese. 
 Germany. Gcrmauy was in a state of great political tran- 
 quillity, and too flourishing, and too much divi- 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 1*27 
 
 ded to devise or execute any attempt against her 
 neighbours. The barons and ecclesiastical po- 
 tentates had carved to themselves from time to 
 time, a variety of independent states in the 
 empire, vvhich they maintained by their own 
 strength ; while the frea lowns^ enriched by 
 commerce and by the spread of knowledge,, 
 were able to defend themselves whenever oc- 
 casion required, as well against the emperor 
 as against the encroaching nobles. Maximilian 
 enjoyed the empty title and the formal privi- 
 leges of emperor, with such small revenues as 
 the states chose to pay, and the power of exact- 
 ing from them just so much obedience as they 
 thought fit to yield to him ; but without a single 
 tower, or town, or foot of land, to which, as em- 
 peror, he could lay claim. The truly imperial 
 power lay in the Germanic body^ who, in the 
 assembly of the states, which were called diets, 
 passed the laws of the land, and when a va- 
 cancy happened in the supreme authority, sup- 
 plied it by their free election. Maximilian, who 
 now held that authority, was almost universally 
 despised throughout Europe. His character pre- 
 sented an extraordinary compound of talent 
 and weakness. Without principle enough to 
 persist in any honest design, he wanted courage 
 to undertake bold bad ones ; and his infirmity 
 of purpose; and constant poverty (a) made him 
 
 {a) The Abbe du Bos says, " he was so notorious for his 
 love and his want of money, that no one ever thought of soli- 
 citing him to sign his name without promising at the same 
 
 CHAP. 
 III. 
 
128 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 III. 
 
 the dupe and instrument of whoever tried to ca- 
 jole or to bribe him into their schemes. He en- 
 gaged in wars only to be bought off, and his 
 want of dignity gave an equally ridiculous air to 
 his successes and his defeats. 
 
 Spain. Spain was under t.ie quiet dominion of Fer- 
 
 dinand, who had materially strengthened the 
 power of the crown^ and enlarged its dominions 
 without however encroaching much upon the 
 liberties of his people. There were many reasons 
 for his apprehending an attack from France,, 
 but none which should induce Lim to commence 
 a war. His title to Naples was debateable at the 
 least : he had made himself master of Navarre, 
 and dispossessed an ally of France by open force ; 
 and Roussillon and Cerdagne were thought to 
 have been acquired by fraudulent means. The 
 death of his son-in-law, Philip, had restored to 
 him the dominion over Castile, but Charles, the 
 elder son of that prince^ and the heir of his rights, 
 was arriving at an age when his pretensions 
 might be enforced^ and this young prince^ who 
 had possessions a^so in the Low Countries, where 
 he had been educated^ had many forcible reasons 
 for maintaining amity with so powerful and so 
 near a neighbour as France. 
 
 England, England was in a state of perfect repose. The 
 result of the battle of Flodden Field had silenced 
 her nearest and most troublesome enemv : and 
 
 lime a sum of money as soon as he had finished. His poverty 
 procured him the nickname of Massimiliano poco danari.—- 
 Hist, de la Lisfue de Cambrdv. 
 
 C7 • 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 129 
 
 Henry's recent experience of the pertidy of Fer- <^'5^ap. 
 
 dinand and of Maximilian, had disinclined him - '. 
 
 from any offensive foreign leagues^ while the 
 deference with which he had been treated by 
 France in the late negociations, had engaged his 
 goodwill by flattering his selfish vanity. 
 
 The Swiss cantons still preserved a threaten- The swis« 
 ing aspect towards France. From the time that ^*"*^"^- 
 Louis XI. had joined his arms with theirs in 
 support of their common cause against Charles 
 the Bold^ they had seemed to form a part of the 
 militia of France. Charles VIII. had employed 
 considerable bodies of them. Louis Xil.^ on 
 his accession, continued them in his service, and 
 thev had on all occasions behaved so well as to 
 gain the reputation of the most steady and able 
 infantry in Europe. The poverty of tJieir country, 
 and its redundant population, had driven them 
 to find in warfare a lucrative trade, and the 
 French levies furnished employment for several 
 considerable bodies of their men. When Louis 
 XII. quarrelled with them^ he raised a large force 
 of infantry in Germany, known by the name of 
 lanz-knechts, who, like the Swiss, fought on 
 foot ; and who, although they were at first infe- 
 rior to them, were soon brought by discipline 
 and practice to equal the Swiss in courage and 
 ability, while they had none of that insolence 
 and caprice which made the latter so often dan- 
 gerous. This attempt to dispense with their ser- 
 vices, was an affront which the proud mountai- 
 neers could not forgive. They had twice helped 
 
 VOL. I. K 
 
130 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. Louis XII. to conquer Italy, and as often, when 
 — ^^ the humour served, they had driven him from 
 the fruits of his victory. They had taken their 
 revenge at Novara and at Dijon ; their con- 
 tempt and anger were still fresh against France 
 by reason of Louis's refusal to perform the treaty 
 which la Tremoille had made in his name, and 
 the intrigues and exhortations of the cardinal 
 de Sion, that implacable and restless enemy of 
 France, kept alive their animosity, and some- 
 times inflamed it to a dangerous pitch. The 
 Grison cantons alone were not hostile to France. 
 The other European powers were too remote 
 or too feeble to exercise any influence upon the 
 policy of the French government. Of those 
 which have been enumerated, Venice was her 
 ' staunch adherent ; Engiand^s amity, or, at the 
 worst, her neutrality, might be insured ; Ger- 
 many's opposition might be safely defied ; 
 Spain's interest, whatever Ferdinand's inclina- 
 tion might be, would keep her at peace ; and 
 the young ruler of the Low Countries had no- 
 thing to hope, but much to fear, from hostility 
 with Francis. The Pope and the Swiss there- 
 fore were the only formidable foes with whom he 
 had to deal. The former might be propitiated, 
 by permitting him to effect his plans for the 
 aggrandizement of his family, by taking posses- 
 sion of Parma and Piacenza, and by abandoning 
 the rebellious feudatories to such mercy as he 
 might choose to shew them ; or, the effects of his 
 enmity might be counteracted by assisting those 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 131 
 
 feudatories, and thwartinGf his desio-ns. Francis, chap. 
 
 ni 
 who properly appreciated the value of the Swiss '■ 
 
 as auxiliaries, was nevertheless not a jot intimi- 
 dated by their angry menaces ; and although he 
 resolved upon making one effort to regain their 
 alliance, he was determined to purchase it by no 
 unworthy compliance with their haughty hu- 
 mour. Having in view his Milanese expedition, 
 his first object was to cement his friendly rela- 
 tions with such of the several powers as were well 
 disposed towards him, and to guard against the 
 possible hostility of those whom he doubted. 
 The embassies which he received from the various 
 states^ to compliment him on his accession,, 
 afforded him an opportunity of accomplishing 
 this design, which he effected, as far as it was 
 practicable^ with consummate prudence. 
 
 He proposed to the Enolish envoys, that the Francis 
 
 ^ i«i 1 concludes 
 
 treaty of peace which had been entered into be- a treaty 
 tween Henry and the late king, during their land. 
 lives, should be renewed on the same footing ; 
 and that Scotland, which France was bound to 
 assist^ if need were, should be included. To 
 this Henry was ^\e\\ disposed to accede, but as 
 the seigneur d'Aubigny, the cousin of the late 
 king of Scotland, had been invited thither to act 
 as regent, the English king proposed the inser- 
 tion of an article in the treaty, by which Francis 
 should undertake that d^Aubigny, who was his 
 subject, and who was known to be inimical to 
 the interests of England, should forego his in- 
 tention of visiting Scotland. Francis replied 
 
 K 2 
 
13-2 
 
 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 III. 
 
 Treats 
 with the 
 archduke 
 Charles. 
 
 with great candour, that he had pledged his pro- 
 mise to the Scots that d'Aubigiiy should go to 
 Scotland, and that by the terms of that promise 
 he was bound ; but he offered to answer in his 
 own person for the integrity of d'Aubigny's 
 conduct, and that he should attempt nothing to 
 the prejudice of England ; and undertook that if 
 the Seigneur did not succeed in composing the 
 animosities which prevailed there, and which 
 were the sole objects of his journey, he should 
 be recalled in two or three months. This ex- 
 planation satisfied Henry, and in April, 1515, 
 the proposed treaty was concluded. («) 
 
 The mission ^vhich the archduke Charles had 
 despatched for the purpose of doing homage for 
 the counties of Artois and Flanders, which he 
 held of the French crown, afforded Francis an 
 opportunity of preventing that young prince's 
 joining his grandfather in projects which might 
 have proved troublesome to France. Count 
 Henry of Nassau, with a splendid train of nobles 
 and prelates, came to Paris for the ostensible 
 purpose of performing the homage ; but before 
 he quitted it he had concluded a treaty, by w hich 
 the archduke (who in turn had been promised, 
 or had promised himself, to nearly all the prin- 
 cesses in Europe) engaged to marry the lady 
 Renee, the king's sister-in-law, with whom he 
 w^as to receive as a dowry six hundred thousand 
 crowns, and the duchy of Berri. This part of 
 the treaty there was probably no intention on 
 
 (a) Fiddes, 1, ii. c. 2. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 133 
 
 either side of performing; but the real motive chap. 
 
 which induced the ministers of the archduke to '- — 
 
 advise the friendly alliance with France, arose 
 from their apprehensions that it was Ferdinand's 
 intention to transmit the crown of Spain to his 
 other grandson^, Ferdinand, who had been edu- 
 cated under liis own eye in Spain, while Charles, 
 who had lived for the greater part in Germany 
 or the Low Countries, was personally almost a 
 stranger to him. In order to provide for this 
 event, which they much feared, they therefore 
 stipulated, that Francis and Charles should mu- 
 tually aid each other '^ in all their just designs ;" 
 by which ambiguous expression it was under- 
 stood, on Charles's part, that Francis would 
 assist him in any steps which might become 
 necessary to gain the Spanish crown, if his suc- 
 cession after Ferdinand's death should be dis- 
 puted ; while Francis sought to provide against 
 any interference by Charles in opposition to his 
 proposed enterprise. The restitution of Navarre 
 also formed an article of the treaty ; and Charles 
 engaged to do all that at present he could do in 
 furtherance of that object, by joining Francis 
 in an embassy to Ferdinand, urging him to do 
 justice to the unfortunate Jean d'Albret, and 
 significantly requesting that he would acquaint 
 them with his determination in the space of a 
 year, [a) A secret article of the treaty stipu- 
 lated, that the count of Nassau should receive 
 in marriaoe Claude de Chalons, sister of the 
 prince of Orange, who had been educated with 
 
 (a) Du Bellay, 1. 1. Btlcar., 1. xv. 
 
134 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 IIL 
 
 the queen of France, [a) By the perforinance 
 of this article, ^vhich was the only one that 
 Charles was really desirous to carry into imme- 
 diate effect, the principality of Orange passed 
 to the house of Nassau ; and Charles, by his 
 ow n act, and as if under the influence of des- 
 tiny, laid the foundation of that power, which 
 was, at a later period, the instrument of crush- 
 ing the odious domination of his descendants, 
 and of establishing the freedom of the Low 
 Countries. 
 Francis ^* ^^^ rathcr with a view of extorting from 
 
 makespro- them an avowal of their designs, than in the 
 
 posals tor a _ ^ . ' . 
 
 ^eaty to hopc of engaging their cordial amity, that 
 and to Francis made an offer of enterino^ into a treaty 
 lian, with Ferdinand and with Maximilian. Ferdi- 
 nand, finding himself obliged to reply, expres- 
 sed his willingness to conclude a treaty, on a 
 condition which he knew would not be com- 
 plied with — that Francis should undertake to 
 renounce all attempts upon the Milanese. Fran- 
 cis, as the wily Spaniard expected, declined giv- 
 ing any such pledge ; and Ferdinand, fearing 
 the enmity of the Pope, and of the Swiss, more 
 than he prized the amity of the French king,, 
 declined his offer, upon the ground, that if the 
 Milanese should be attacked he was bound to 
 which, be defend it. He influenced Maximilian to return 
 ed, he con- a similar answer; and Francis, thus relieved 
 aui^nce'' from auy doubt respecting those of his neigh- 
 venetians. bours whosc prcteuded friendship was more 
 dangerous than their open enmity, renewed and 
 
 («) Le P. Daniel, t. vii. p. 344. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 135 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 confirtned the last treaty which had been made 
 
 III 
 
 witli the Venetians. 
 
 While these negociations were pending, Fran- Francis 
 cis had continued diligently, but secretly, to forTaT 
 strengthen the forces which his expedition would 
 require. His artillery was sent gradually from 
 various parts of the kingdom towards Lyons ; 
 he had raised in Germany^ by the means of Ro- 
 bert de la Mark, the lord of Sedan, a band of 
 ten thousand lanz-knechts ; the duke of Gueldres 
 had furnished him with six thousand foot ; and 
 Pietro da Navarra, who had been driven by the 
 ingratitude of Ferdinand into the service of the 
 French^ had levied for him ten thousand more 
 in Gascony and Languedoc. To conceal as 
 much as possible the real object of this arma- 
 ment, Francis sent the seigneur de Jamets^ one 
 of the sons of llobert de la Marck, as his envoy 
 to the diet of the thirteen Cantons, for the pur- 
 pose of accommodating with them the differences Rupture 
 which had arisen respecting the fulfilment of the Swiss can- 
 treaty of Dijon, on which they grounded all 
 their complaints. («) Their animosity against 
 France, and an overweening notion of their im- 
 portance, which their late successes had gene- 
 rated, carried them now even beyond their usual 
 insolence. They refused the envoy admission, 
 and threatened that, unless the treaty of Dijon 
 was performed to the letter, they w ould imme- 
 diately attack the provinces of Burgundy and 
 Dauphiny. This absurd violence favoured 
 
 (a) Guicciardini, 1. xii. 
 
 tons. 
 
136 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. Francis's desisTn, and relieved hiin from the 
 
 III . , ^ 
 '. necessity of further concealment respecting his 
 
 armament, which had begun to excite observa- 
 tion. His domestic troops, and the foreign le- 
 vies he had raised^ were immediately put under 
 arms, and part of them ordered to march to- 
 wards Burgundy, for the ostensible purpose of 
 defending that province ; while the greater part 
 of the force was moved towards Lyons, with the 
 avowed object of chastising the Swiss, by carry- 
 ing the war into their country. 
 
 The Pope, and the Italian states who were in 
 his holiness's interest, observed these prepara- 
 tions without alarm. They would not believe but 
 The Pope that Francis was too youno' in his government to 
 
 refuses to • i • ? i i yv . 
 
 join the venture upon any enterprise which could aiiect 
 
 leasfue for i •/ i. 
 
 the defence tlicm ; Hor could tlic admonitious of the more 
 ^^^' wary Ferdinand convince them of their error. 
 A league had been secretly formed between the 
 king of Spain and the emperor, the Swiss and 
 the duke of xMilan, for the defence of Italy. The 
 Pope hesitated, although earnestly recpiested to 
 join it ; and, under the specious pretext that his 
 holy office required him to promote universal 
 peace, he sought to evade all participation in 
 war, in oider to devote himself to the accom- 
 plishment of the plans he had formed for in- 
 creasing the wealth and power of his house,, 
 and which consisted mainly in securing for his 
 nephew, Lorenzo de' Medici, the supreme rule 
 in Florence, and for his brotlier, Giulio, a prin- 
 cipality, composed of the states which Julius IF. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 137 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 had wrested from the Milanese, and from the 
 duke of Ferrara. - 
 
 Francis^ who, although he did not fear the Frands 
 hostility of the Pope^ thought it wise to endea- dee as am- 
 
 . • 1 • n ' 1 ^ • J 1 i bassador to 
 
 vour to gam his friendship, sent an embassy to Rome. 
 solicit him to enter into a treaty. In his choice 
 of Guillaume Budee^ one of the most learned 
 men of A^liich France, or even the whole civi- 
 lised world could boast, to execute this delicate 
 commission^ he proved his own good taste, and 
 flattered that of Leo. Budee applied himself 
 with great ability to the accompnshment of*^ i., 
 his errand ; Ite offered, oil* the paf^ of tlie ., 
 kingjto assist the pontiff in effecting the m^^r- " 
 
 riage which was th%n pr6posed between the 
 Pope^s brother, Giulio, and Margaret of Savoy, 
 the auTit of Francis, by which alliance Leo 
 thought he should best strengthen his family 
 interests. The Pope \Aho, learned and amiable 
 as he Avas, possessed little decision of character, 
 and no small portion of that spirit of cunning in- 
 trigue which then universally distinguished the 
 statesmen of Italy^ could not bring himself to 
 choose between accepting Francis's offers, and 
 joining the league against him. While he was 
 thus deliberating and actuated on opposite sides, 
 by his interest, which the offers of France deci- 
 dedly favoured, and by his inclinations, which 
 were opposed to those offers, he continued to 
 baffle and amuse the simple minded Budee by 
 never-ending equivocations, unmeaning objec- 
 tions, and frivolous demands. Budee, as soon as 
 
138 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, jje discovered the Pope's want of sincerity, wrote 
 ! to Francis^ begging to be released from a com- 
 mission for which he felt his talents were not 
 adapted. His request might have been com- 
 plied with, but that an intrigue was then car- 
 rying on against the papal interest^ the disco- 
 very of which was not yet ripe^ and which re- 
 quired that a minister should remain at the 
 court of the Vatican to avert Leo's suspicions. 
 gained to GeuoH, whlcli Fraucc had lost after the battle 
 France. ^^ Novara WBS SO situatcd as to command the 
 j-passage by sea into the Milanese^ and the pos- 
 .' J session of it was l)f the utmost ' importance to 
 Francis's design. After the expulsion of the 
 French, it had reverted t@ its old form of go- 
 vernment, and Octavio Fregosa, the devoted 
 adherent of the house of Medici^ and the inti- 
 mate friend of Giulio, the Pope's brother, had 
 been by their interest elected doge of the 
 republic. Fregosa had manifested his grati- 
 tude by intercepting the passage of some car- 
 dinals of a party opposed to that of the Medici^ 
 and whose votes might have turned the scale, 
 when they ^vere proceeding by sea to the con- 
 clave in which Leo was elected ; and this inter- 
 change of services appeared to have so firmly 
 cemented the friendship between Fregosa and 
 the Medici, that nothing could sever their in- 
 terests. The constable de Bourbon, who was 
 well acquainted with Fregosa^ undertook, how- 
 ever, to bring him over to the side of Francis. 
 He sent a faithful emissary, who represented 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. " 139 
 
 to him, as the truth was, that he stood in a <^hap. 
 
 . . III. 
 state of great insecurity and even peril ; that '■ — 
 
 tlie popular tumults which were constantly hap- 
 pening in the city, and which had often placed 
 his life in jeopardy, might one day prove fatal 
 to him ; that the duke of Milan claimed the 
 sovereignty of Genoa^ and that his adherents^ 
 the Swiss, would, at his bidding, gladly attack 
 so rich a prey ; while, to protect himself against 
 these imminent hazards, he had no other ally 
 than the house of Medici, whose, power to as- 
 sist him was not very great, at the most, and 
 could in no case be relied on for longer than 
 the lite of the Pope. The constable^s envoy 
 then solicited him to give up the City to Fran- 
 cis, upon terms which would at once increase 
 his power and his security. To induce Fre- 
 gosa to make a choice which his interest ob- 
 viously prompted, the constable commissioned 
 his agent to offer him the friendship and 
 support of the French king ; that he should 
 be established in the rule of Genoa, not as 
 doge, but as the king^s governor ; that he 
 should receive a considerable pension, and have 
 the command of a troop of gendarmes which 
 the king would send into the place ; that he 
 should be admitted into the order of St. Michael, 
 and, as his brother, who was bishop of Salerno^ 
 ran some risk of losing the temporal posses- 
 sions belonging to that see, when the Spanish 
 king, who had given it to him, should learn 
 Octavian's defection, it was stipulated that he 
 
Milanese. 
 
 140 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, should receive an equivalent promotion in the 
 
 '. Galilean church. To all these was added a 
 
 promise which would tend more than any thing 
 to make the proposed step agreeable to the 
 Genoese^ and consequently safe to Fregosa, that 
 the ancient privileges of the city, which Louis 
 had abrogated, should be restored. Fregosa 
 could not resist offers so tempting ; his friend- 
 ships and his loyalty to the Medici were for- 
 gotten ; he gave up Genoa to France upon the 
 terms stipulated^, and even excused himself to 
 the Pope on the principles of his own policy. («) 
 Francis This poiiit belug gained, concealment was no 
 
 avows his -, f^f^i i i i i i 
 
 determina- Jouger iiecessaiy. Ihe whole world saw, and 
 vrding the Francis himself did not disavow, that it was at 
 the Milanese he aimed. His loudest enemies, 
 the Swiss, gave up their threatened invasion 
 of his dominions, and hurried to oppose the 
 passage of his army across the Alps. The em- 
 peror had some few troops already in Italy, 
 which had joined the Spanish army, still com- 
 manded by Cardona, but he contributed no new 
 forces. The Venetians, headed by d'Alviano, 
 although thev had recently sustained some re- 
 verses, were still strong and active enough to fur- 
 nish full employment for the Spanish general. 
 It ^vas upon the Pope and the Swiss alone there- 
 fore that the task of defending Italy rested. His 
 holiness, who had not a spark of the fire which 
 burned in Julius, still acted cautiously ; and, 
 notwithstanding the loss of Genoa, and that the 
 French army was in full march upon Italy, 
 
 (a) Belcar., 1. xv. Guicciardini, I. xii. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 141 
 
 he hesitated to avow the eniiiitv which he felt cuap. 
 
 * TIT 
 
 against France. His troops were asseml)lecl, 
 
 but he announced publicly, that the sole use he 
 meant to make of their services, was for the pro- 
 tection of Parma. To the Swiss^ however,, he 
 secretly promised that his forces should join 
 them^ and, as earnest of his intention to per- 
 form this promise, he dispatched an army to 
 Piacenza, of which his nephew, Lorenzo de' 
 Medici, had the chief command, while that of 
 the cavalry was committed to Prospero Colonna. 
 The Swiss began to cross the Alps so confident 
 of victory^ that they had, in anticipation, divided 
 among themselves and their allies^ the French 
 possessions in Italy ; («) and, by way of com- 
 mencement, they ravaged in their march the ter- 
 ritorv of the duUe of Savov, who was well dis- 
 posed towards France, and who^ if he had before 
 hesitated, would, by tliis proceeding, have been 
 driven to espouse that side of the quarrel. 
 
 The necessity of raising money for the pur- Raises mo- 
 pose of this expedition^ gave rise to the perni- saieo^tyd\t 
 cious practice of selling judicial offices, which ^lai offices. 
 Duprat, one of those unprincipled advocates of 
 expediency, who are the disgrace of courts and 
 the torment of nations, advised the king to 
 adopt. A new chamber of parliament^ con- 
 sisting of twenty councillors, was created^ and 
 all the places in it sold ; and a similar measure 
 was applied to the increase of the other courts 
 throughout the kingdom. The parliament of 
 Paris at first refused to register the king's e lict for 
 
 (a) Guicciardini, 1. xii. 
 
142 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. i\^\^ purpose; and although they afterwards sub- 
 
 '. mitted, they did so with great reluctance, while 
 
 the injustice and impropriety of the proceed- 
 ings diminished their confidence in the monarch, 
 and excited^ respecting Duprat, that distrust 
 which his subsequent conduct increased to detes- 
 tation, [a) 
 Completes Fi'aucis haviug completed his levies by means 
 andTep^'rs of thc moucy SO unjustifiably raised^ and finding 
 to Lyons, hji^ggif ^t thc head of the finest army that France 
 had 3 et sent to the field, repaired to Lyons, where 
 he nominated his mother the regent of France, 
 during his absence, and arranged the order in 
 which his forces w ere to march. His army con- 
 sisted of two thousand five hundred men at arms, 
 which force, fully equipped, amounted to between 
 fourteen and fifteen thousand horse. (J)) Besides 
 
 (a) Le P. Daniel, t. vii. p. 348. 
 
 [b) The corapagnies d'ordonnance, which were the only 
 regular cavalry, consisted each of 100 men at arms, or lances. 
 Attendant upon these were five persons, three archers, an 
 esquire, or coutellier, so called from a knife or bayonet which 
 be wore, and a page or valet ; all of them were mounted : so 
 that 1 ,500 men at arms, properly equipped, amounted always 
 to 9,000 horse. But, in addition to these companies, there 
 was besides a large body of volunteer adventurers, equipped 
 and attended in like manner, who marched with them and 
 thus not unfrequentiy raised the actual number of a com- 
 pany of 100 to 1,200. The geadarmes and volunteers were 
 persons of family ; the latter never received pay, but after 
 a certain period of service were often entered as gendarmes. 
 Their attendants formed a kind of light cavalry, which, 
 although it could not be opposed to the heavy armed horse, 
 was eminently useful in skirmishes, escorts, retreats, and 
 pursuits. — Le P. Daniel, Hist, de la Milice Fran^oise. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 143 
 
 this, he had of mounted troops the gentlemen of chap. 
 
 his body guard, the officers of the household^ '-— 
 
 and their several followers^ with a considerable 
 number of voUinteers, who joined the army at 
 their o\a n charges. His infantry was composed of 
 two-and-twenty thousand German lanz-knechts, 
 eight thousand French pikes, and six thousand 
 Basques and Gascons, with three thousand 
 pioneers, and a numerous train of artillery. To 
 the constable Bourbon the van -guard was com* 
 manded, and under him served his brother 
 Francis^ newly made duke of Chatellerault, la 
 Palice, Trivulzio, the prince de Talmond, Bon- 
 nivet, Imbercourt, Teligni, and a multitude of 
 other distinguished persons. Navarra^ with his 
 Gascons and Basques, and the pioneers, whose 
 services turned out to be among the most valu- 
 able, were attached to this division of the army. 
 The king himself commanded the '^^ battle/^ the 
 dukes of Lorraine and Vendome, the seigneur 
 d'Aubigny, [a) the bastard of Savoy, d^Orval, la 
 
 (a) D'Aubigny, vvho is called by some of our historians, 
 Albany, was of the Scottish family of Stuart, a subject of 
 France by birth, and commanded the company of Scottish 
 gendarmes, the creation of which is thus stated in a ma- 
 nuscript in the Harleian Collection, (No. 4614) entitled 
 ** Plainte des Gardes Escossais au Roi, ou est Torigine de 
 r Alliance de leur Nation avec la France." *' Charles Sep- 
 tieme, recteur de toutes les compagnies d'ordonnance en 
 France, erigea aussy la compagnie de gendarmes Escos- 
 sais des reliques des Escossais deffaits a Vernoeil en Perche. 
 La composa de cent gendarmes et deux cens archers, et 
 leur attribua la premiere place parmi la gendarmerie Fran- 
 9oise, et donna la charge d'icelle a Robert de Stuart, sieur 
 
144 
 
 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. Tremoille, Lautrec, ^vho had also been made a 
 
 '— marshal, Bayard, the duke of Gueldres, who 
 
 had the chief command of the German foot, 
 and Claude de Guise, the duke of Lorraine's 
 brother, were with him. The rear-guard was 
 commanded by the duke d'Alen^on. 
 The diffi- To move this army into Italy was the ffreat 
 
 culty of pe- , . ^^ A /• • . 
 
 netrating difficulty. A safo but circuitous route pre- 
 
 into Italy. i • . i ^ i i • i /. i 
 
 sented itselt, by which one part oi the army 
 might penetrate to Savona^ and the other might 
 march^ by the county of Tende^ towards Mont- 
 ferrat ; but the delay which would ensue ren- 
 dered this plan ineligible. It was now the 
 month of August, and unless the Milanese 
 should be entered before the autumn had ex- 
 pired, all operations would be useless ; because 
 the rains would then have set in. The only 
 
 d'Aubig-ny aii quel succeda en la mesrae charge son fils 
 Bernard, et a luy son fils Robert." The last mentioned 
 personage is the leader mentioned in the text. The estima- 
 tion in which they were held, may be conceived from the 
 enumeration of their duties and privileges which is con- 
 tained in the same manuscript: — " A scavoir, la garde des 
 clefs au logis du roy au soir, la garde du coeur de Peglise, 
 la garde des basteaux quand le roy passe des rivieres, I'hon- 
 neur de porter la cre^pine de soye blanche a leurs armos, 
 qui est la couleur couronnable en France, les clefs de toutes 
 les villes, oil le roi fait son entree, donnees a leur capitaine, 
 en quartier ou hors de quartier; le privilege qu'il a hors 
 de quartier aux ceremonies, comme aux sacres, mariages, 
 et funerailles des roys, baptesmp, et raariage de leurs eiifans, 
 de se mettre en charge la robe du sacre, qui luy appartient, 
 et que cette conipagne par la mort ou changement de leur 
 capitaine ne change jamais de rang comme font les autres 
 trois." 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 14'> 
 
 other ways ^Uiich seemed practicable, were by chap. 
 
 Mont Cenis and Mont Genievre ; but the Swiss — - 
 
 had occupied those passes^ and were determined 
 to defend them to the uttermost. They might 
 be forced, but at such hazard and under sucli 
 disadvantages as must destroy a great part of 
 the army ; so that if they should be attempted, 
 Francis must engage in a disadvantageous con- 
 flict before he reached tlje country in ^hich his 
 main battle v^as to be fought, and would enter 
 upon it with a weakened and diminished force. 
 A part of the troops had been dispatched by sea 
 to Genoa, under the command of Aimar de Prie, 
 the grand-master of the cross-bowmen ; and 
 although they might, upon their landings have 
 made a powerful diversion by harassing the 
 Swiss in the rear, while the main body of the 
 army attempted the passage, yet Genoa was 
 not implicitly to be relied on, and the tin.e 
 which must elapse before the bowmen could, 
 under any circumstances, be brought into the 
 field, would be almost as ruinous as a defeat. 
 While the council was deliberating upon these 
 difficulties and on the means of obviating them, 
 fortune interpoised to relieve them from their 
 embarrassment. A peasant of Piedmont, who a passage 
 had passed his life among the mountains, had vered. 
 formed an acquaintance with some soldiers of 
 the army in the course of a traffic which he car- 
 ried on by supplying them with game and other 
 provisions. He knew every part of the Alps 
 in that neighbourhood, and, it having occurred 
 
 VOL. I. L 
 
146 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. ^Q j^jp^ ij^g^^ ^ passage might be eft'ected bv a 
 
 '- route^ which was not generally believed to i^xist, 
 
 and against which the Swiss had not guarded, 
 he communicated his notion to the comte de 
 Morette, whose vassal he was. His su^aestion 
 was at first treated with contempt, bnt the per- 
 tinacity with which he adhered to it induced 
 the comte de Morette to make a personal in- 
 spection of the mountain track which the pea- 
 sant had pointed out. He was then convinced 
 of its practicability, and, with the permission 
 of the duke of Savov, to whom he communi- 
 cated the project, he repaired to the king at 
 Lyons. The council considered it, and dis- 
 patched Lautrec and Navarra, who, the one by 
 his boldness and love of enterprise, and the 
 other by his skill in mechanics, were admirably 
 adapted for such an undertaking, to examine 
 and report upon the possibility of effecting a 
 passage. The marshals, la Palice and Tri- 
 vulzio, accompanied them, and took yvith them 
 the comte de Morette and the peasant ^vith 
 whom the project had originated. The diffi- 
 culties were ascertained, and formidable as they 
 were, they might, it was thought, yet be sur- 
 mounted by perseverance and exertion ; and 
 upon the report which Lautrec and his com- 
 panions made, it was determined that the pas- 
 sage should be at least attempted. As the 
 Swiss believed they had defended the only 
 practicable passes, no obstacles but those which 
 nature had formed, were to be anticipated ; and 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST, 147 
 
 in order to (onceal the desioii of the French chap. 
 
 Ill 
 leaders, and to maintain the Swiss in tlie belief - 
 
 they had formed, some detachments were sent 
 to Mont Cenis and Mont Genievre for the pur- 
 pose of alarming them, and of preventing their 
 attention from being drawn to the particnlar 
 place at which the army was about to attempt 
 a passage. 
 
 All being readv, the van-o;uard forded the The 
 
 o French 
 
 Durance^ and, follow ed by the rest of the army, army is 
 entered the mountains on the sideof Guillestre; Sross the 
 and now it was, that the value of the services of ^* 
 the pioneers and of Navarra's mechanical skill, 
 was duly appreciated. The first steps were 
 difficult ; but those which succeeded were infi- 
 nitely more so. The pioneers Sinoothed the 
 roads, and filled up the ravines with the trees 
 they cut down, and the rocks they levelled. 
 Bridges were thrown across some of the tor- 
 rents, and the artillery was drawn by the sol- 
 diers over places which were inaccessible to 
 beasts of burthen. 
 
 An enterprise of greater boldness in its con- 
 ception, and of greater labour and peril in 
 its execution, can scarcely be imagined. The 
 route over which an army, with all the bur- 
 thens and appointments of war was now to 
 march, had never before been traversed by any 
 human foot but that of the mountain hunter, 
 whom necessity had first urged, and whom long* 
 practice had made expert, in treading its dan- 
 gerous course. The romantic courage of the 
 
 l2 
 
148 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. French leaders, however, did not stay to cal- 
 "^' culate the difficulties which, to more deHbe- 
 rate minds, would have seemed insvirmountable. 
 Their spirit was communicated to the common 
 soldiers^ who engaged in their unaccustomed 
 labour with admirable alacrity, w bile the offi- 
 cers on the other hand toiled with axe and mat- 
 tock as assiduously as if such work had been 
 a part of their ordinary duties. The new and 
 savage scenery by which they were surrounded^ 
 increased the horrors of their enterprise. The 
 rushing cataracts^ the falling avalanches^ the 
 hoarse roar of the mountain winds, which, pent 
 within the rocky walls^ might have been ima- 
 gined by minds open to superstitious influ- 
 ences, to utter forebodings and maledictions — 
 added to tlie tumult which the noise of the 
 workmen and the cries of the beasts occasioned. 
 Appalhng accidents, by which men and cattle 
 were lost^ either from the precariousness of the 
 mountain passes, or from the falling of rocks, 
 were of frequent occurrence. Against all these, 
 however, the perseverance and ingenuity of the 
 army held out; until, when they had nearly 
 concluded their labours, they arrived at a rock 
 that completely shut out their further passage. 
 It was too lofty to scale, and so hard that all the 
 tools with which the work had hitherto been 
 performed, broke against it. An universal be- 
 lief that this obstacle could not be overcome 
 and a feeling of bitter mortification at find- 
 ing ^hat all their pains were thus thrown away, 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. IVJ 
 
 bei»aii to ])ervade the army. Tlie elastic and ^^^^p- 
 
 ... Ill 
 fertile mind of Pietro da Navarra, however, kept ! — 
 
 np against the disappointment. He examined 
 the mountain barrier, and found that a part of 
 the rock was of sand-stone, and might be pierced. 
 I lope was revived by this discover} ; the soldiers 
 renewed their labour with alacrity, and a week^s 
 further exertions were rewarded by th'^ir effect- 
 ing" a clear passage into the territories of the 
 Marquis of Saluzzo. The army and the artillery 
 descended in perfect safety, and were joined by 
 the detachment which la Palice had led by 
 Brian^on and Sestrieres, for the purpose of pro- 
 tecting" the rest of the force in the event of the 
 Swiss having intelligence of their design and 
 attempting an attack from the heights. The 
 precautions taken by the allies had been utterly 
 frustrated ; the French army was in Italy before 
 it was believed, by their enemies, that they had 
 concluded the plan of their march ; and fortune, 
 who, when she is in the giving vein, commonly 
 bestows her favours with both hands, had pre- 
 pared for them another triumph, [a) 
 
 Prosnero Colonna, an excellent and experienc- Coionnais 
 ed officer, commanded the Pope's cavalry, and 
 had taken up his quarters at Villa Franca, where 
 he awaited the approach of the French in the 
 certainty of victory. The spirit of Spanish arro- 
 gance, which had infested all Italy, and was at 
 once ridiculed and adopted by that volatile peo- 
 ple, had so far tainted this general, that he boasted 
 
 (a) Belcar., 1. xv. Guicciard., 1. xii. P. Jov., 1. xv. 
 
150 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. i|g ]jad tlie French army already in his power, 
 ' and had actually appropriated to himself the 
 county of Carmagnole out of the dominions of 
 the duke of Savoy^ whom he and the Swiss in- 
 tended to dispossess for having favoured the un- 
 dertaking of Francis. Almost as soon as the 
 French army was in the plain^ they were inform- 
 ed by the Piedmontese^ who kept the secret of 
 their arrival with admirable fidelity, where Co- 
 lon na was quartered^ and Uiat, in the full con- 
 fidence of security, he kept a negligent guard. 
 This was enough to rouse the adventurous spi- 
 rit of the French commanders. A short con- 
 sultation between la Palice, d'Aubigny, Bayard, 
 d*Imbercourt, and Montmorenci, sufficed to form 
 the resolution of endeavouring to surprise him. 
 Witti a body of men at arms, selected for the 
 purpose, they set out, led by the comte de Mo- 
 rette and his vassal, who pointed out to them a 
 fordable passage of the river which led to a short 
 and easy road. At noon they arrived within 
 sight of Villa Franca. So profound was the 
 Italian leader's notion of his perfect safety, that 
 the posts were absolutely deserted, the gates 
 remained open, and the French gendarmes were 
 under the walls before they were recognised. 
 A hasty attempt was then made to close the 
 gates^ and to defend the place^ but two of 
 d'Imbercourt's troop rode their horses against 
 them, and one having succeeded in inserting 
 his lance between the gates, maintained his 
 place until others coming up, the barriers were 
 
151 
 
 C H A v. 
 III. 
 
 OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 
 
 forced, {a) The French poured into the town ; 
 there was no time for resistance, and before 
 Colonna couUI well rise from the dinner table, 
 he was d'Aubigny's prisoner, and his followers 
 were in precisely the situation with which lie 
 had too lightly threatened his captors. 
 
 At about the same time^ intelliofence was re- 
 ceived that the troops which had been sent, un- 
 der the command of Aimar de Prie, to Genoa, 
 had safely ari'ived at that place ; w heie they had 
 been well received^ and joined by 4,000 Genoese, 
 with whose assistance they had surprised Alex- 
 andria and Tortona, and made themselves mas- 
 ters of the whole of the Milanese on that side of 
 the Po, 
 
 In proportion as the French army was encou- The Swiss 
 raged by these fortunate events, their enemies Se defence 
 were embarrassed^ and the union between the J'anLe. 
 contracting parties to the league was enfeebled. 
 The Pope, who was inclined, as well by his fears 
 as by his love of peace, to put an end to the war, 
 entered, by the means of the duke of Savoy, 
 
 (a) The manner of Colonna's surprise and capture, as well 
 as the circumstances which led to them, are differently re- 
 lated. Le Ferron says, that some of the French soldiers, in 
 the disguise of traders, with pack-horses, asked for admis- 
 sion at the gates of Villa Franca, and having entered, they 
 watched their opportunity, when, after massacreing the sen- 
 tinels, they opened the gates to their own comrades. The 
 author of the Life of Bayard says, that Colonna knew the 
 chevalier and one troop had passed the mountains ; but not 
 fearing an attack from so inconsiderable a force, he would 
 not condescend to guard against it. Colonna himself, in his 
 apology, does not allude to either of these circumstances. 
 
152 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, jj^^^ ^ negociatioii with Francis, the object of 
 
 '. — u hich was to temporize until he should see more 
 
 clearly what conduct it was expedient to pur- 
 sue. The king of Spain would not^ and Maxi- 
 milian could not, contribute the sums they had 
 engaged to furnish for the common charges of 
 the war ; so that^ if these powers had alone been 
 interested^ the campaign would have been ended 
 almost as soon as it had begun. The animosity 
 of the Swiss, however^ was increased to its ut- 
 most height and bitterness by the successes of 
 the French. All the reasons which had induced 
 them to engage in tlie war, seemed insignificant^ 
 compared with their desire to crush the French 
 army. The passage of the Alps had thrown 
 some disgrace upon the troops of the Cantons^ 
 who had luidertaken to guard them ; and the 
 French infantry were the more odious to the 
 mountaineers, from the utter scorn in which 
 the} held them as soldiers. The accession of the 
 German lanz-knechts, and of the Black Bands^ 
 whom they looked on as their rivals, added hatred 
 to contempt, and they thirsted for an opportunity 
 to vindicate their own superiority, and to teach 
 the French the value of the allies they had lost. 
 They had, however, too much discretion to forego 
 any of the advantages they possessed. They with- 
 drew from the jjasses which they had flattered 
 themselves they were effectually guarding, and 
 retired to the Milanese, plundering wherever a 
 booty presented itself, regardless whether they 
 were recei\ ed as friends or as foes. A contention 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 153 
 
 arose, ill the course of their march, bet\Aeeii two chap. 
 
 HI. 
 
 of tiieir leaders, ^\ hich at first appeared likely to 
 put a stop to their further proceeding. The car- Sins"' 
 diiial de Sioii, who had a commission signed by ^^^^^f 
 the Pope, and the emperor, as general of the 
 Swiss troops, marched with the army. He had 
 conceived a notion that the passage of the French 
 had been effected by means of the treachery of 
 Albert de la Pierre, who commanded the troops 
 raised in the canton of Berne ; and^ listening only 
 to the dictates of his ungovernable temper, he 
 expressed this opinion one day at table. La 
 Pierre^ who was a rude soldier, and who had 
 been taught by the cardinal's own demeanour, 
 to consider him as little entitled to reverence^ re- 
 plied to his unjust accusation, by grossly giving 
 him the lie ; upon which the cardinal, in exercise 
 of his authority as general, put him under ar- 
 rest ; this, however, was the extent of his power, 
 for at the end of twenty-four hours he was com- 
 pelled to release him. On the following day la 
 Pierre had his revenge The troops were drawn 
 out for a review ; and, as the cardinal passed the 
 companies commanded by la Pierre^ he demand- 
 ed the arrears of pay which were then due to his 
 troop. The cardinal, Avho had no money, and 
 who foresaw the consequences of a refusal, en- 
 deavoured by civil speeches to reconcile himself 
 with la Pierre ; but the angry soldier was not 
 to be pacified. In proportion as the cardinal 
 lowereri his tone, la Pierre became vehement. 
 The soldiers, whom he had purposely placed 
 
154 
 
 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 Bayard re- 
 quests per- 
 mission to 
 attack 
 them, 
 
 c H AP. ^yiiJiiii hearino' be^^an to joId in the conversation. 
 
 III. . \ . 
 '— The cardinal fearing, not without reason, that 
 
 he was in danger^ retreated with some of his 
 friends to Pigiierol ; and la Pierre^ who had 
 determined not to serve unler him, and wlio 
 yet w ould not join the Frencli, ultimately quit- 
 ted the camp with his troops, and retired to 
 Berne, (a) 
 
 This quarrel reached the ears of the vigilant 
 Bayard, who saw that it afforded a favourable 
 opportunity for striking a decisive blow. He 
 
 which ''*- *^ ® . 
 
 Francis re- WTotc to the kiug to bcg hls pcrmissiou to at- 
 tack the Swiss with the vanguard^ which had 
 passed, and which were enough for the purpose ; 
 Francis, however, who Avas then at Lyons, either 
 unwilling that an engagement should take place 
 without his being present, or perhaps with a 
 more prudent caution apprehending the con- 
 sequences of a defeat^ enjoined his commander 
 not to give battle until the whole of the army 
 should have passed the Alps. He hastened 
 his own journey ; made a rapid progress to 
 Piedmont^ where he was joyfully and honour- 
 ably received by his uncle, the duke of 
 Savoy. Several places yielded without an offer 
 of defence ; and, among others^ Novara^ the 
 scene of a defeat w hich almost every soldier in 
 the French army felt as a personal disgrace^ sur- 
 rendered the keys of her citadel. Here he was 
 joined by the duke of Gueldres, who had staid 
 
 (a) Belcar,, 1. xv, n. 12. P. Jov., 1. xv. Pet. de Angl., 
 Epist. 550. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 155 
 
 CHAP 
 III. 
 
 at Lyons with a body of 6,000 German veterans 
 of approved courage and liio^h reputation, and 
 who, in their sovereign's long wars against the 
 emperor^ having always fought under black 
 standards^ had acquired the name of the Black 
 Bands, (a) 
 
 Francis then formed his camp at Marignan^ Francis 
 and with such a force as he now possessed, if Marignan. 
 he had come to a determination of fighting 
 immediately^ he would, in all probability, have 
 gained every thing he proposed to himself; 
 but^ at the instigation of the duke of Savoy, 
 he resolved to endeavour to effect a treaty with 
 the Swiss. The duke liciieved that aii> thing 
 could be done with them by means of money ; 
 and the kinsf, who was alwavs desirous to Proposes 
 
 " ^ terms to 
 
 spare his troops, (b) sent the duke's brother, the Swiss. 
 Renee de Savoy, commonly called the Bas- 
 tard, (c) who had great influence w ith them, 
 to ascertain what terms they would be likely 
 to accept. The Swiss, who had at this time 
 determined to retire from Piedmont to the 
 Milanese, were expecting a reinforcement of 
 
 (a) Bellay, 1. i. 
 
 (b) In one of his letters to Laiitrec, at this period, he said, 
 *'Un roi ne doit point hasarder le sang- de ses sujets, ni 
 verser le sang de ses ennemis, lorsqu'il pent racheter I'un et 
 i'autre avec de I'argent." — M^m. de du Bellay, 1. i. 
 
 (c) He was the son of the late duke Philip and of Bona da 
 Romagnano, a Piedmontese lady. By means of the duchess 
 of Angouleme, his natural sister, he attained a high rank in 
 France, and from him is derived the family of Villars. — 
 Gaillurd, 1. i. p. 147. 
 
156 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 25,000 men, which Rost. one of their most 
 
 III. . . 
 
 — 11— celebrated leaders, was hringino' up. They 
 
 knew that if Francis should prevent the ex- 
 pected troops from joining them, they must 
 fiill into his power ; and they had too much 
 reason to fear that he could etlect this if he had 
 been so disposed. They therefore gladly re- 
 ceived the proposals for a treaty which they 
 saw^ would give them time. Their demands 
 were exorbitmt. They required payment of 
 the sum promised them by the treaty of Dijon^ 
 and 300,000 crowns besides, for the expense 
 they had ]>een put to in defending the Milanese; 
 and tliey insisted tliat such of their troops as 
 Avere then in Italv, and those who w ere on their 
 march thither, should receive three months' pay. 
 For the duke of Milan thev demanded that the 
 king would marry him to a princess of the royal 
 bloodj confer upon him the duchy of Nemours^ 
 a company of gendarmes^ and a pension of 
 1,000 livres. These complied with, and the ac- 
 customed stipend paid as heretofore^ they Avere 
 ready to enter into a treaty of peace during the 
 life of the king, and for ten years afterwards, 
 and to give up all that they possessed in the 
 Milanese. 
 TheCamu No proof iHorc coDvinciug that Francis was 
 influences rcally dcsirous to save the effusion of bloody 
 to reje'^cr could bc giveu than his entertaining, and even 
 agreeing to these terms. Al hile tiie negociation 
 was pending he forbade any attack to be made 
 upon the Swiss, the coiisequence of which for- 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. I o7 
 
 bearaiice was, that Rost and his troops effected ^^h^^^- 
 
 III 
 a junction with their army. The money was 
 
 raised chiefly by the generous sacrifices of the 
 principal Frencli leaders, who even sold their 
 plate and other vahiables to procure it, and on 
 the 8th of September all was ready. The Bas- 
 tard of Savoy and Lantrec had orders to convoy 
 the money to Bulfalora, where the Swiss were 
 to come to receive it. The cardinal de Sion^ 
 whose hatred money could not appease, had al- 
 ways opposed the treaty, and had helieved from 
 the nature of the demands, that they could never 
 be acceded to. W hen, however, he saw^ it upon 
 the point of completion, he worked so upon the 
 minds of Rost and his troops who had just come 
 up, thirsting for plunder, and murmuiing loudly 
 at finding their expectations were to be disap- 
 pointed, that they positively refused their assent. 
 ^^ itii the casuistry of a churchman of that day^ 
 he represented to the others that the treaty they 
 had made could not be binding upon them, as well 
 because it had been entered into without the par- 
 ticipation of so large a part of the army as Rost's 
 detachment, as because he, their general, had op- 
 posed, and would never sanction it. There was 
 another point, which he kept back until his other 
 reasons had made them waver, which he knew^ 
 would confirm them in breaking the treaty. 
 He told them that an ambuscade, adroitly exe- 
 cuted, w ould make the treasure, which w as to be 
 taken to Bulfalora, theirs before it reached its des- 
 tination ; that an attack immediately afters ards 
 
15B THE LIFE AND TiMfiS 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 in. 
 
 Upon the French must succeed, for that the 
 leaders and the gendarmes^ in full contidence 
 that the treaty would be eftectuated, thought of 
 nothing" less than of war, and weie preparing for 
 the tournaments and other sports with which 
 they meant to celebrate their entry into Milan. 
 In short, that if they would now strike^ they 
 mii<ht ensure to themselves the vengeance for 
 which they thirsted, the acquisition of an im- 
 mense bootVj and the triumph of making pri- 
 soners, the richest king in Europe, with the 
 flower of his court. The greedy mercenaries 
 listened with delight. The cardinal's persua- 
 sions were seconded too powerfully by their 
 rapacious desires ; the treacherous plan was 
 adopted, and, but for an accident^ would have 
 been carried into effect. Lautrec had a spy {a) 
 in the Swiss camp, who served him so well as 
 to acquaint him with the whole design. The 
 money was immediately lodged in a place of 
 security, the march of the convoy suspended, 
 and Lautrec hastened to the king with the in- 
 formation he had obtained. 
 
 Their treachery being thus detected^ the king 
 was convinced that the hope of being able to treat 
 with the Swiss was a vain one^ and from this 
 moment he disposed himself for an engagement. 
 To prevent them from joining the armies of the 
 Pope and of the Spanish viceroy, was a measure 
 of the first importance^ and fortune favoured 
 
 [a] Lautrec's letter on this subject to the duchess d'Angou- 
 l^me, apud Varillas, t. i. p. 49. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 159 
 
 C H A P. 
 111. 
 
 Francis in this attempt, which he wonld hardly 
 have been otiierwise able to effect. The Spa- 
 niards had taken Cinthio daTivoli,a messenger 
 of the Pope^ and pretending either to mistake 
 or disbebeve his character, they read the dis- 
 patches of which he was the bearer, by whicii 
 they not onlv learnt that Leo was treatins; with 
 Francis without their knowledge, bnt that Lo- 
 renzo de' Medici, his general, had also written a 
 complimentary letter to Francis. A mutual 
 distrust was the consequence of this discovery. 
 Cardona, the Spanish general, would not pass 
 the Po, unless Lorenzo de' Medici accom|janied 
 him, and the repeated delays wdiich took place 
 in consequence not only prevented their joining 
 the Swiss, but gave d'Alviano an opportunity of 
 reaching Lodi with a body of cavalry. 
 
 Francis was now as desirous to come to an en- TheCar- 
 firaffement as he had before been w^illinor to avoid the Swiss 
 
 P . , . to attack 
 
 it. The cardinal of Sion too, who thought that the French 
 it was better to let the Swiss encounter their ene- ^^'^^' 
 mies unassisted, urged them to the attack, (a) 
 He assembled the army, and placing himself on 
 an elevation in the midst of them, he commenced 
 
 (rt) In the cardinaVs dispatches to the Pope, (Varillas, 
 t. i. p. 51,) giving- an acromit of the battle of Marignan, he 
 explains the reasons upon which this opinion was founded. 
 If the Swiss conquered, they would have no one to share 
 either the spoil or the glory with them; if they were van- 
 quished, he knew that their countrymen would never lay down 
 their arms until they had wiped off the disgrace of a defeat ; 
 and in that event they would be engaged in a lasting war 
 against France, an object which he had chiefly at heart. 
 
1(^0 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, Qj^g Qf ti^ose inflanimtitor\ baransues, the effect of 
 
 III. . ° ^ . 
 — which he had so often proved, (a) He reminded 
 
 the soldiery that they I^ad undertaken the sacred 
 and honourable task of restoring' the young'j and, 
 ])ut for them, helpless duke of Milan to his here- 
 ditary dominions, and that they were bound to 
 u:o through with their undertakino' thous^h all 
 the powers of Christendom were banded against 
 them. Then turning" his discourse dexterously 
 to a point on which he knew they were most as» 
 sailable, he bade them icinember that the only 
 enemies they were called upon to oppose were 
 those Frenchmen for whom they had fought, 
 and who were indebted to them for their prouil- 
 est successes ; those Frenchmen \^ lio^ having 
 since become their enemies, thev had intimidated 
 and overcome ; who had sued for their forbear- 
 ance, and who had promised but had not paid 
 the price at n^ hich it had been rated ; who had 
 broken their treaties, violated their faith, disap- 
 pointed the hopes of their tried allies, and who 
 had now passed upon them the last insult by 
 bringing- against them the lanz-knechts and the 
 black bands, who arrogated for themselves the 
 reputation which belonged only to the Swiss, 
 and ^^hich had been won in many an arduous 
 battle before the infantry of Germany was heard 
 
 [a) The marquis de Fleurang-es des^'ribes this scene with 
 a quaint humour : " Le cardinal de Sion fit sonner la tam- 
 bouriii et assembler tous les Suisses. 11 fit la faire un rond, 
 et lui au milieu en une chaise, comme un renard qui preche 
 les poules." 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 161 
 
 of. He stated and answered all the ar2:innents chap. 
 
 Ill 
 that could be brought against the attack to ' 
 
 which he would persuade them, with that rapid 
 vehemence which has the weight of conviction 
 upon minds ah'eady predisposed. He admitted 
 that the French army was numerous : but the 
 Helvetic bands were not accustomed to be daunt- 
 ed by oddSj even tliough consisting of enemies 
 more formidable than the French and their new 
 allies ; that they had cavalry, the charge of 
 which was said to be overwhelming ; but besides 
 the impenetrable rampart which the long Swiss 
 pike had proved against such cavalry, they might, 
 by a surprise, be rendered useless ; for the artil- 
 lery, he bade them think of the cannon of No- 
 vara, which they had seized and turned against 
 their owners ; and he asked why a similar at- 
 tempt made by the same men, and in the same 
 spirit, should not have the same result } As to 
 waiting for a junction w ith their allies, he dis- 
 missed the proposition as derogatory to the tried 
 valour of the Swiss, who had no aid at No vara 
 but their own hearts and weapons. Defeat he 
 assured them w as impossible, and the sweets of 
 victory ought to be enjoyed by them without 
 corrivals, as they might be won without assist- 
 ance. He soothed their piety by representing to 
 them that the approbation of the holy church 
 sanctified their endeavours; and roused their 
 thii-st for plunder by describing, in exaggerated 
 terms, the wealth of the French leaders, the 
 splendour of their arms and equipments, and 
 
 VOL. I. M 
 
162 . THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 III. 
 
 the value of the prey which awaited the attack. 
 When he perceived by the murmurs of ap- 
 plause and the maledictions against their ene- 
 mies which burst from the stern multitude he 
 was addressino\ that he had roused them to 
 that deoree of rao;e which he thouf>'ht fit for 
 his purpose^ he ended his harangue by a loud 
 and emphatic call to an immediate attack. " 1 he 
 hour is come/^ he said, " when, without fur- 
 ther counsel, we must march to over\A helm our 
 foes : — leave deliberation to more timid soids, 
 and to those who love to evade dangers rather 
 than to aifront them. Our habits are fiercer, 
 and more becoming soldiers, and it is enough for 
 us to see our enemy that we should fall upon 
 him. ^Vith the help then of God, who in his 
 justice has resolved to punish the insolence and 
 pride of the French^ onward ! Grasp your pikes 
 with your old vigour^ beat your drums; without 
 a moment's delay let these Frenchmen feel the 
 weight of your weapons,, and satiate your well 
 grounded hatred in the blood of those who in 
 their arrogance would tread upon all men, but 
 whose weakness and worthlessness make them 
 the prey of all.'' 
 Fieuranges "f he wild multitudc w ere w on ; but even before 
 
 captures 
 
 and re- tlic harauofue was finished, some news arrived 
 
 leases some i-, iii 
 
 Swiss lead- wlucli would havc insured the success of the car- 
 dinal's exhortation. Fieuranges^ who at the head 
 of a troop of the black bands had been keeping 
 up the character of le Jeiine Aventureux, which 
 he had assumed^ and bv u hich he was constantlv 
 
 ers. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 
 
 163 
 
 called, heard that there were a hundred Swiss c"^^- 
 
 . . . III. 
 oflicei's ill Turin, but he did not know that thev '- — 
 
 had been invited thither by the duke of Savoy ;, 
 under the pretext of some public entertainment,, 
 and in the hope that he might by their means 
 still effect the treatv which had been broken off. 
 Fleuranges^ in a spirit of mere wantonness, re- 
 solved to capture these officers; and, introducing 
 some of his men by night, and in very small di- 
 visions into the city, he surprised the Swiss in 
 their beds, and carried them off to the French 
 camp, before they had slept away the remem- 
 brance of the duke's banquet. Upon the remon- 
 strance of the duke of Savoy, who thought his 
 honour concerned in the safety of the Swiss offi- 
 cers, Fleuranges released them all. (a) They 
 returned to the camp more indignant at their 
 capture than thankful for their release^ and add- 
 ed by their relation of the event to the excite- 
 ment which the cardinal's harangue had already 
 produced. The instant attack w as resolved upon 
 with loud acclamations, and the march begun. 
 
 It w as on the 13th of September, that, under The Swiss 
 
 1 • n r 1 • • 1 o • commence 
 
 the influence of this excitement, the Swiss the attack. 
 inarched out of Milan with more than their 
 
 [a] Fleuranges' own account of this matter i.^, that he was 
 only induced to part with the officers upon the assurance of 
 the duke of Savoy, that they had been at Turin " pour affaire 
 du Roi, et a bonne intention ;" and he says, moreover, that 
 the king was sorry he had done so, because, as they were 
 among the principal officers, the others would not in all pro- 
 bability have ventured an engagement while they were ab- 
 sent. — Mem. de Fleur. 
 
 M 2 
 
164 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 JIT. 
 
 usual impetuosity, and still in perfectly good 
 order, to the field of Marisfnan. Thev had left 
 behind them their drums and fifes, and had no 
 other martial music than their horns — the same 
 instruments which had been used for bringing 
 together their brave progenitors, the founders 
 of the freedom of Switzerland, who taught 
 their tyrants and the whole world that to love 
 liberty ardently, and to be free, are the same 
 thing. It wanted but two hours to sunset 
 when their approach was perceived by the 
 French outposts. 
 The battle The kin«' was talkino: with d'Alviano, who 
 
 of Marig. ^ . ^ . 
 
 nan. had comc to him from Lodi for the purpose of 
 discussing the means of safely effecting a junc- 
 tion with the Venetian army, when Pleuranges 
 galloped in with a message from the constable, 
 who commanded the van-guard, informing him 
 that the enemy were upon them. Francis 
 called for his arms, put himself at the head 
 of his division, and hastened to the attack, 
 which had already begun, while d^Alviano hur- 
 ried back to Lodi, to bring up such force as he 
 could collect. The constable had committed 
 the o'uard of the artillerv to the lanz-knechts, 
 not only because they were among the troops 
 whose steadiness he could best rely on, but 
 because he knew that the mutual hatred which 
 prevailed between them and the Swiss would 
 make them fight desperately. In the front of 
 the guns he had dug a large fosse, and had 
 placed his cavalry so as to act upon the flanks. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 165 
 
 The Swiss came on in perfect silence: a fire ^^ 
 was opened on them, which they bore with the 
 greatest firmness ; and still they advanced 
 against the guns in admirable order. Bourbon 
 saw that the destructive manoeuvre of Novara 
 was to be again attempted, and marched out 
 some companies of lanz-knechts, ^vhom the 
 Swiss immediately attacked without seeming to 
 pay any attention to the cavalry. The ^Ger- 
 mans, who had adopted a most unfounded sus- 
 picion that the treaty between the Swiss and 
 the French had been completed^ and that they 
 were to be sacrificed to their implacable ene- 
 mies, felt convinced, when they perceived the 
 attack of the Swiss to be directed against tliem 
 alone, that they were not mistaken. In utter 
 disiuay they gave ground, and retreated in dis- 
 order behind the fosse, which the Swiss entered 
 with them, and got possession of four of the 
 guns. The constable saw in an instant the 
 mistake, and the fatal consequences which must 
 ensue if it were not promptly repaired, lie 
 made his gendarmes charge the Swiss in flank, 
 which they did with great effect ; and in the 
 mean time the black bands, with Francis him- 
 self at their head, had time to come up, and 
 make a vigorous attack upon their opposite 
 flank. The lanz-knechts now saw that their 
 doubts were wholly groundless : they attempted 
 to regain their former position, and with so 
 much success that the Swiss were driven be- 
 yond the fosse, and the gims were once more 
 
 AP 
 
 III. 
 
166 ' THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, turned against them. In this part of the en- 
 
 '- — gagement Francis foiight on foot^ with a pike in 
 
 his hand ; and his presence^ and the reckless 
 courage ^vith which he opposed himself to the 
 common danger, are said to have contributed 
 mainly to the repulse of the Swiss. Still, 
 though they were shaken, the advantage which 
 had been gained over them was unimportant. 
 They presented the same formidable appear- 
 ance, and their close ranks and their long pikes 
 seemed to defy all attack. The constable and 
 the other leaders of the French cavalry tried 
 every thing that desperate valour could suggest 
 to break them, and returned more than twenty 
 times to the charge^ with a courageous deter- 
 mination which repeated disappointments had 
 made furious. Their attempts exhausted them, 
 and they were at length driven back in some 
 disorder upon their own infantry, when the 
 king made a diversion in their favour by charg- 
 ing with 200 gendarmes a battalion of 4,000 
 foot J which composed one of the Swiss wings, 
 and this manoeuvre was executed so opportunely, 
 and with so much force, that the division was 
 wholly routed, compelled to lay down their 
 pikes, and cry " France !'^ 
 
 The night came on, and the fight still conti- 
 nued to rage furiously. The uniforms of the 
 French and the Swiss were very much alike ; 
 each of them bore the white cross: but the 
 Swiss had in addition, as a token of their ad- 
 herence to the Pope, the keys of Saint Peter, 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 167 
 
 which bado^e the cardinal of Sion had made ^'"^^p- 
 
 TTT 
 
 them assume when the title of defenders of the L_ 
 
 church was conferred on them. The dust, which 
 had been raised by the conflict, added to the 
 obscurity of the twilight^ had lon^ before made 
 it difficult to distinguish friend from foe; and 
 it had now become impossible. The moon, 
 however, soon rose, and afforded light enough 
 for combatants who were still intent upon 
 slaughter. The Swiss, having no cavalry, 
 knew that they could not be mistaken in di- 
 recting their attack against the French gen- 
 darmes, while the latter were often unable 
 to recognise their own people ; and to this 
 circumstance Francis had nearly owed his de- 
 struction. He was at the head of his gen- 
 darmes, and thought he saw a body of anz- 
 knechts immediately before him. He rode up to 
 them, and had scarcely uttered the rallying 
 cry, " France \'^ when he found, by the nume- 
 rous pikes aimed at him, tliat he was at close 
 quarters with the enemy. He brought off his 
 troop as rapidly as he could, but not without 
 loss ; and having rallied a body of lanz-knechts, 
 while the constable led up the French foot, they 
 attacked and drove back the battalion Avhich 
 was advancing to the cannon. The artillery, 
 as long as the fight lasted, ^\as the point of 
 attack to which the Swiss directed all their 
 force with indomitable pertinacity. There the 
 battle raged in its utmost fury, and there the 
 confusion Mas at its height. La Tremoille, 
 
168 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. ^]^Q l^aj determined that no second Novara 
 
 '- — should stain the arms of France^ and his son^ 
 
 the prince de Talmond^ never stirred from this 
 post. Bayard, too, ^vho was always to be found 
 where peril put on her most frightful shape, had 
 made this the scene of his exploits. At about 
 half an hour before midnight the moon went 
 down, and then the combatants, with unassuaged 
 ferocity, though with exhausted strength, were 
 compelled to pause from their work of blood. 
 No signal was given for the retreat; the detach- 
 ments remained in the same places in which 
 they had been surprised by the darkness. Swiss, 
 French, Germans, and Italians, lay down upon 
 the blood-drenched field, almost side by side, 
 to snatch a brief interval of repose until the 
 day should enable them to resume their toils, 
 and not daring in the mean time to raise a cry 
 which might bring their friends about them, 
 lest it should also betray them to their enemies. 
 The king, surrounded by some gentlemen who 
 had kept close to his person during the whole 
 day, lay down upon the carriage of a gun, wea- 
 ried with his exertions, slightly wounded with 
 a pike, and considerably bruised from blows 
 which, but for his harness of proof, would have 
 had more serious effects. He asked for some 
 drink, and all that could be procured for him 
 was some water in a morion, and that so mingled 
 with blood that his heart sickened at the at- 
 tempt to swallow it. It was immediately after- 
 wards ascertained that he was within fifty paces 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 169 
 
 of the main body of the Swiss; the single torch^ 
 which had hitherto lighted Francis and the 
 few followers who had been at his side when the 
 darkness surprised them^ was now hastily extin- 
 guished, and Gouffier Boisy, who had followed 
 his pupil to the field as grand master, advised 
 him not to encounter the danger of retreating, 
 but to remain where he was ; — thus the night 
 was passed. 
 
 The break of day was the signal for renewing 
 the fight. The Swiss got into order and made 
 an impetuous attack upon the artillery. The 
 lanz-knechts and the black bands, who had 
 placed themselves in its defence, were driven 
 back. The assailants performed prodigies of 
 valour ; (a) but the well directed fire of Galiot de 
 Genouillac, who commanded the guns, opened 
 their ranks in so destructive a manner, that 
 the gendarmes could penetrate, and turned the 
 tide of the battle in their favour. The Swiss, 
 however, continued their attack with desperate 
 energy, and, finding their foes invulnerable in 
 front, detached a part of their force, with orders 
 to make a short circuit and fall upon the French 
 rear. The manoeuvre was skilfully performed ; 
 but the duke d'Alent;on^s troops, who had not 
 been hitherto engaged, and who had been rein- 
 forced by the cross bowmen of Aimard de Prie, 
 
 [a] A Swiss lad, of about twenty years old, had penetrated, 
 with a desperate courage, through the French and German 
 regiments to one of the largest cannons, and was in the act 
 of spiking it, when he was killed by a pike-thrust. — Varillas, 
 t. i. p. 50, 
 
 CHAP. 
 III. 
 
1710 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 III. 
 
 gave them so warm a reception, that they were 
 totally routed. The victory now evidently in- 
 clined in favour of the French^ and, after some 
 further resistance, the Swiss began to retire, 
 still, however, with unbroken ranks^ and pre- 
 sentinc^ a formidable front to their enemies. A 
 pursuit would have done them considerable 
 damage ; but the king, either from a remote 
 hope that he might one day have occasion for 
 their services, (a) or because the number of his 
 own wounded (b) required all his care, permitted 
 
 {a) Bayard is said to have counselled this forbearance, 
 because, he said, " On pourroit bien avoir affaire des Suisses 
 le terns advenir." — Mem. de Bayard. 
 
 [b) The young- count de Guise was among the number. 
 Although then but two and twenty years old, his uncle, the 
 duke the Gueldres, had committed to him the charge of his 
 troops, being- compelled to return to his own dominions, for 
 the purpose of checking an attack which the Brabanters had 
 made on them in his absence, and believing also that the 
 treaty with the Swiss would be carried into effect. It was 
 by the count de Guise that the lanz-knechts had been 
 brouii-ht back to the charge after their first retreat. In the 
 subsequent parts of the engagements he behaved with extra- 
 ordinary courage, and at length fell pierced with two and 
 twenty wounds. Adam de Nuremberg, his squire, threw 
 himself across his body, and was killed in attempting to de- 
 fend it. A Scotch gentleman, named James, recognised the 
 count in the heap of dead and dying by which he was sur- 
 rounded, and putting him, senseless as he was, on his horse, 
 carried him to his tout, where the skill of the surgeons re- 
 stored him to animation. At the end of three months he was 
 restored ; and, as he possessed no less superstition than cou- 
 rage, he performed the vow which he had made in his illness, 
 of making a pilgrimage on foot, armed at all points, to the 
 shrine of St. Nicholas in Lorraine. — P. Jov., 1. xv. Mem. 
 de du Bellav, 1. i. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 171 
 
 them to retreat almost unmolested. D' Alviaiio, chap. 
 
 who arrived, after a night march, with some ^ — 
 
 hastily collected cavalry belon<;ing to the Ve- 
 netian army, relieved the mortification he felt 
 at having arrived too late for the battle, by at- 
 tackinu* the Swiss on their march ; but the ef- 
 fort was fatal to him. («) The fatigue he had 
 undero'one broke down a constitution which a«-e 
 had already enfeebled, and an illness ensued, 
 which soon after brought him to the grave. The 
 loss to the Swiss was enormous, fifteen thousand 
 of their men being left on the field. The French 
 also paid dearly for their triumph with the lives 
 of above six thousand, among whom were Fran- 
 cis de Bourbon, the brother of the constable, who 
 fell by his side ; Bertrand de Bourbon Carenci ; 
 the Prince de Talmood, who had nobly emu- 
 lated the example of his father ; Pierre de Gouf- 
 fier Boisy, the brother of the grand master ; and 
 the amiable and gallant d^lmbercourt. The 
 king was frequently in great peril ; and Bour- 
 bon, to whose coolness and valour the victory 
 was in no small degree oAving, would inevitably 
 have fallen under an attack which was particu- 
 larly directed against him, but for the prompt 
 succour of a few gendarmes of his own, who 
 formed about him, and, at the utmost risk, re- 
 pelled his assailants. 
 
 [a] The young count Pitigliano, who rode with d' Alviano, 
 rushed so furiously upon the Swiss that he could not extri- 
 cate himself, and was completely overwhelmed by their num- 
 bers.— Mem. de du Bellay, 1. i. 
 
172 
 
 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 A battle more strenuously contested, or more 
 bloody in its result, had not been seen for many 
 years. It was the first exploit in arms of a 
 young monarch round whose standard not only 
 the very flower of his own nobility and gentry, 
 but the sovereign princes of Savoy, Lorraine, 
 and Gueldres had fought. Two days and a 
 night had been passed by the contending armies 
 in almost uninterrupted conflict, and it well de- 
 served the character given of it by Trivulzio, 
 who said it was a fight of giants, and that all 
 the battles he had seen before were children's 
 play compared with it. It at once gained for 
 Francis the reputation of an able warrior ; and 
 the impression which it made throughout Eu- 
 rope, although it raised his fame to the highest 
 point, caused him to be looked at with fear by 
 some, and Avith jealousy by all of the potentates, 
 who could not but apprehend that the ambition 
 and love of glory which they believed him to 
 possess, added to the prowess he had displayed, 
 and the triumph he had gained, might one day 
 make him the most formidable power in Europe. 
 The Swiss xhe Swiss dispersed themsehes as soon as 
 
 dispersed. r i r i i p i c p 
 
 they got clear of the held of battle. ^:*ome of 
 them went to their homes, and others retired to 
 Milan ; but two companies were so unfortunate 
 as to take up their quarters in a village at a 
 short distance from Marignan. The French 
 advanced guard arrived there soon afterwards, 
 and summoned them to surrender. The Swiss 
 replied, with a fierceness in which was a mix- 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 173 
 
 lure of despair, that their enemies knew they chap. 
 
 were always prepared to die. but that they '— 
 
 never surrendered. A conflict ensued, which 
 the resolute defence of the Swiss might liave 
 protracted^ but for the barbarous expedient to 
 ^^hich the French resorted of firing the town. 
 The Swiss perished to a man ; and with them 
 some of the Frenchmen, one of whom was 
 the Seigiieur de Meilleraye, the king's standard- 
 l)earer, whose eagerness in the destructive work 
 l)rought upon him the same fate. 
 
 The details of the battle are o'iven by Francis Francis's 
 himself, in a letter written immediatelv after- the bauie. 
 wards to his mother. It bears all the marks 
 of great haste ; and its inaccuracy in some 
 particulars, and its uncertainty in others, may 
 therefore be easily accounted for. It is^ how- 
 ever, not only one of the most satisfactory 
 illustrations of the tone and manners of the 
 time, but an interesting indication of the dis- 
 position and spirit of the young conqueror. 
 Elated^ as he had great reason to be, at so bril- 
 liant a result of what may be called his first 
 essay in arms, there is none of the arrogance 
 which a less noble mind would have displayed. 
 His description is concise and rapid,, but is^ at 
 the same time, clear and striking. Of himself 
 and of his exploits he speaks with confidence, 
 but at the same time with a frankness and mo- 
 desty which prove that not an atom of vanity 
 mingles in the recital. He praises his noble 
 companions warmly and jo} ously/ and rather in 
 
174 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAT, the tone of a man who is proud of numbering 
 
 T TT 
 
 ' such heroes among his friends^ than of a king 
 who congratulates himself that he has such sub- 
 jects. Every word of encomium comes direct 
 from the heart ; he touches slightly^ but with a 
 humane and unaffected sensibility^ upon the 
 losses of his own army, and gives to his enemies 
 the full meed of praise to which their valour 
 entitles them ; but preserves, even in the midst 
 of his enthusiasm, that manly delicacy^ which 
 was a distinguishing part of his character, (a) 
 IV king The fight being over, and the number of the 
 by Bayard, killcd aud wouudcd asccrtaiued, the king order- 
 ed a chapel to be erected on the field of battle, 
 as a monument at once of his piety and of his 
 victory. He next prepared^ in the spirit of that 
 chivalry of which, antiquated as it had even 
 then become, he professed himself throughout 
 his life an earnest and ardent disciple, to receive 
 the order of knighthood on the spot where he had 
 so well won his spurs. On no occasion^ perhaps^ 
 did he more remarkably prove his good taste 
 and discrimination than in choosing to receive 
 this dignity from the hand of the chevalier 
 Bayard^ the most modest hero and the most 
 perfect model of all chivalrous virtue, {b) Fran- 
 
 (rt) Appendix, No. IV. 
 
 [b) The marechal de Fleuranges, and Le Pere Daniel, 
 who follows him, state this to have taken place before the 
 battle ; but the historian of his life says expressly, that it 
 was an honour conferred on him with immediate reference 
 to the engagement in which he had just before distinguished 
 himself. Paulus Jovius corroborates this statement : — Bai/~ 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 175 
 
 CIS, being' then qualified^, conferred tlie order of chap. 
 
 knighthood upon a great number of his officers. '— 
 
 After three days passed upon the field of 
 battle, in performing these ceremonies, and in 
 providing an honourable sepulture for the dead, 
 the army marched towards Milan. Thither the 
 cardinal of Sion had fled, immediately after 
 the fight at iVJarignan was decided, in the hope 
 of still finding means to oppose the French 
 army. ^Vhen the survivors of the battle came 
 into the town, he perceived, however, that his 
 influence ^vith them was wholly destroyed ; they 
 reproached him with bitterness for that perni- 
 cious counsel which had cost the blood of such 
 numbers of tlieir countrymen, and had torn from 
 them the reputation of being invincible in war, 
 which they had so bravely earned, and which 
 they so highly prized, it was his holy cha- 
 racter of cardinal legate alone that preserved 
 him from the infuriated soldiery, and he was 
 fain to escape hastily and secretly to the court 
 of the emperor, carrying with him, however, 
 Francesco Sforza, the younger brother of the 
 duke Maximilian ; so that if the latter should 
 fall into the hands of the French, the germ of 
 future warfare might not be wanting. 
 
 The people of Milan threw open their erates i ays siege 
 
 11 I 1-11 1 tothefor- 
 
 to the royal army, but the citadel, reputed to tress of 
 
 ardum ideo cceteris pretulit quod acerrime inter hostes 
 pugnantem conspexerat. — Hist. 1. xv. The details of the 
 ceremony, which are extremely interesting-, will be found in 
 the Appendix, No. V. 
 
176 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. ]jQ ^^Q Strongest in the world, still held out. 
 '. — The elder Sforza had ammunition and provi- 
 sions for several months. The Swiss who had 
 reached Milan, shut themselves with him in the 
 fortress ; and more^ as it should seem, out of 
 enmity to the French than from good will to a 
 prince whose service had proved so ruinous to 
 them^ they resolved to defend him to the last. 
 The constable laid siege to the citadel^ and 
 pressed it with the utmost vigour, (a) Pietro 
 da Navarra, who boasted that in less than a 
 month he would reduce the fortress ^^ ith his new 
 and destructive system of mining, struck such 
 terror into the place as no army, however nu- 
 merouSj could have occasioned, although he 
 narrowly escaped the effects of his own art. (6) 
 Results of The consecjuences of the late victory soon be- 
 of Marig- ^an to shew themselves. Cardona was too Had 
 
 nan. ~ . . . , ~ 
 
 of the pretext which it afforded him to withdraw 
 the Spanish troops to Naples. Lorenzo de' Me- 
 dici^ thus desertedj could not alone^ even if he 
 had been so disposed, take any step which 
 might thwart the treaty still pending between 
 the Pope and Francis, and in favour of which 
 t'le temporizing Leo now ventured to declare 
 himself more openly. From the emperor no- 
 thing was to be expected ; and even the Swiss,, 
 who, in their diet at Zurich, had threatened still 
 to continue the war, shewed so little alacrity in 
 carrying their menace into practice, that it was 
 evident they were rather disposed to treat than 
 
 (a) Guic, 1. xii. p. 102. [b) Du Bellay, 1. i. 
 
OF lllANCIS Tin: FIRST. 177 
 
 to fight. Bourbon learned at the same time that chap. 
 a mismiderstanding existed between the Swiss __^_ 
 and the Italians in the garrison, [a) and he there- 
 foie resolved to attempt that by a ne^ociation ^^''^n ia 
 
 . , n surren- 
 
 which must otherviise be a work of considerable dered. 
 time. By means of his kinsman, Giovanni da 
 Gonzagua, then in the service of the duke of 
 JXlilan^ he gained over Hieronimo Morone, the 
 duke's chancellor^ who possessed extraordinary 
 influence over his sovereign, and two of the 
 Swiss leaders, {b) An offer of a capitulation 
 was shortly made^ and four days afterwards the 
 treaty was signed, by which Sforza gave up his 
 castles of Milan and Cremona^ and renounced his 
 ducal rights in favour of Francis, who took him 
 under his protection^ promised him a yearly sti- 
 pend of 30,000 crowns, or church benefices to 
 the same amount, and to exert his influence with 
 the pope for procuring him a cardinal's hat. (c) 
 
 (a) The garrison in the castle of Milan was coraposed of 
 Italians and Swiss, between whom dissensions often took 
 place for want of a commander who v.as powerful enough to 
 keep them both under control. One day, an Italian soldier, 
 seeing- a Swiss treated, as he thought, better than himself in 
 the distribution of rations, asked whether he was so favoured 
 because he had run away the first at the battle of Marignan. 
 The Swiss, enraged at this, drew; the bye-standers of either 
 nation took part in the quarrel, and a tumult ensued, which 
 Sforza had great difficulty in quelling, and which he saw was 
 likely to break out again. — Varillas, i. i, p. 74. 
 
 (b) Guicc, 1. xii. p. 104. 
 
 (c) Immediately after this treaty the ex-duke retired to 
 France, where he died on the 10th of June, 1530, having 
 enjoyed in private life (for which his disposition best qualified 
 him) the tranquillity that was denied him on the disturbed 
 
 VOL. I. N 
 
178 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, 
 III. 
 
 The other articles stipulated that the king 
 should pay the Swiss who were in the garrison 
 the arrears then due to them from Sforza, and 
 a further gratuity of 6,000 crowns ; that an am- 
 nesty should be signed, including all persons 
 who had taken part with the duke ; and that 
 Gonzagua and Morone should retain their places 
 with the emoluments which were attached to 
 them, or that the king should provide them an 
 equivalent in France. The latter provision gave 
 rise to a suspicion that Morone had made a 
 treacherous use of the almost unlimited influ- 
 ence he possessed over Sforza ; a suspicion 
 which his ambitious and intriguing temper, no 
 less than his subsequent conduct, seem to have 
 justified, [a) 
 Francis j^y (his trcatv Fraucis became master of the 
 
 gains the . 
 
 Milanese, wholc of thc Milaucse. He made his entry into 
 the city in the ducal robes^ at tlie head of 1,800 
 horse, and 24,000 foot, and accompanied by five 
 
 throne to which the intrigues of his pretended friends, rather 
 than his own inclination, had prompted him to aspire. 
 
 (a) Morone was universally believed to have been guilty 
 of treachery, and the justice of the imputation was proved 
 when it was perceived that some of the articles of the treaty 
 provided for his personal interests. He attempted to clear 
 his reputation, but a statement which he made in writing 
 intitled, Giustificazione di Jeronimo Morone circa la de- 
 dizione del Castello di Milano, and published in the cavalier 
 Kosmiiii's life of Trivulzio, only aggravates the suspicions. 
 This apology is perfectly contemptible, and amounts only to 
 naked assertions, and to saying that all the world knew the 
 mannt r in which he had acted, — Count Bossi's translation of 
 Roscoe's Leo X,, t. v, p. 181. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 179 
 
 princes of the blood, (a) The authorities of chap. 
 
 IH. 
 
 Milan presented themselves to their new lord, 
 and repeated to him that oath of fidelity which dfy a'^^d^^ 
 had been so often pledged and so often violated [fis qu"?- 
 that it had become a bve-word. He established vw.ln« 
 
 «/ V igevano. 
 
 a parliament of similar constitution to those of 
 France ; aiid^ after eight days spent in inspect- 
 ing his newly acquired duchy, and in receiving 
 the unmeaning congratulations of the Italian po- 
 tentateSj he repaired to Vigevano. 
 
 (a) The duke of Alen9on, the constable Bourbon, the 
 count de Vendosme, the count de St. Pol, and the prince de 
 la Roche sur Yon. 
 
 N 2 
 
CHAP. IV. 
 
 Francis treats with the Pope at Bolorjna — Tlie affair 
 of the Pragmatic Sanction and the Concordat — 
 The Kintj returns to France — Jealousy excited in 
 England respecting d^Anhigny, the Regent of 
 Scotland, and Richard de la Pole, the White Rose 
 — Henry furnishes money to the Emperor, icho 
 attacks Milan — the result of that Expedition — 
 jMaxiniilian decamps — The Death of Ferdinand — 
 Charles succeeds to the Throne of Spain — Nego- 
 ciations between the Ministers of Francis and 
 Charles — Treaty of Noyon — Francis forms a per- 
 manent League icith the Helvetic States — Birth of 
 the Dauphin, Francis — Bourbon recalled from 
 Milan — The Countess de Chateauhriant — History 
 of her introduction to Court — Her influence over 
 Francis — Learned Men — and state of Literature in 
 France — The King encourages it — Patronizes its 
 professors — Proposes to found a Royal College — 
 Of ichich Erasmus is solicited to become the prin-^ 
 cipal — The Parliament refuses to register the Con- 
 cordat — Discontent to which the King^s insisting on 
 it gives rise — Troubles at Milan, in consequence of 
 Lautrec's government — Trivulzio^s unmerited dis- 
 grace and death — Francis solicits the friendsliijo of 
 Henry VIII, — BonniveVs embassy — Treaty of peace 
 — Cession of Tournay — Proposed Crusade — Disas- 
 trous expedition to Denmark — Charles endeavours 
 to procure the investiture of j\^aples, and to be 
 crowned King of the Romans — Death of Maximi- 
 lian — His character. 
 
183 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Francis's ascendency in Italy had become so Grinds 
 apparent by the result of the fight at Marignan, ^{j^g^po'^e*^ 
 that the Pope found it necessary to quit the line 
 of policy he had hitherto adopted, and he deter- 
 mined to yield with as good a grace as he could 
 assume, to a power which he was in no situation 
 to oppose. The nuncio, who had been dispatched 
 to compliment the king after the battle, proposed 
 to enter into a treaty on the part of Leo^ by 
 which his holiness should relinquish his pre- 
 tensions to Parma and Piacenza, and withdraw 
 such troops of his as were in the service of the 
 emperor^ on having the cession of Bolognay 
 and the exclusive supply of salt from Cervia, 
 secured to him. This proposal was agreed to 
 by the king, and the treaty was ratified by the 
 Pope himself, at Viterbo.. on the 13th of October. 
 The manner in which he performed his part of 
 the stipulation was ingeniously devised^ so as to 
 fulfil its very letter and yet preserve the dignity 
 of the Holy See. Parma and Piacenza wei-e 
 evacuated, and their gates left open, so that the 
 French troops might enter at their pleasure^ and 
 the papal troops serving in the emperor's army 
 were disbanded — not recalled. It had been 
 agreed J that Leo and Francis should have a 
 
184 
 
 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 IV. 
 
 Their in- 
 terview at 
 Bologna, 
 
 The terms 
 of their 
 treaty. 
 
 personal conference for the settlement of the 
 minor details, and Bologna having been fixed 
 on (a) for this purpose, on the lOdi of December 
 the French king repaired thither. He was met 
 on the confines of the ecclesiastical states^ by 
 a troop of thirty cardinals, who conducted him 
 immediately to the consistory, where he paid 
 that spiritual homage to the Pope which a 
 Christian prince was thought to owe to the 
 head of the church ; and the ceremonial being 
 concluded^ they conferred together in private 
 upon the temporal concerns which were the real 
 objects of the meeting. 
 
 Three days were occupied in this conference, 
 the principal points of which were Francis's 
 claims on Naples ; the fiefs of the church, and 
 the affairs of the Concordat and of the Prag- 
 matic Sanction. Leo found little difficulty in 
 persuading the king to postpone, for the present, 
 any attempt upon Naples, by representing to 
 him that at Ferdinand's death, which, by reason 
 of his age and infirmities, seemed necessarily 
 near at hand, he should be freed from the en- 
 gagements he Tvas under to him, and be enabled 
 to aid, as he wished to do, the enterprise of the 
 French king. The duke of Ferrara, a feuda- 
 
 («) The danger of a hostile monarch's visit to Rome had 
 been experienced on former occasions ; and Leo, who feared 
 that Francis had some design upon Naples, prudently deter- 
 mined not to bring him so far on his way to the point whither 
 lie suspected his ambition tended. In assigning Bologna for 
 the place of meeting, he affected to consult (he king's con- 
 venience. — Paul. Juv., 1. xvi. 
 
185 
 
 C H A P. 
 IV. 
 
 OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 
 
 tory of the Roman see, had deserved the pro- 
 tection of France by the fidelity with ^^ hich he 
 had adhered to it, and wliich had cost him his 
 territories of Modena and Reo'i»io. Francis 
 stipulated that these shoukl be restored to him^ 
 and obtained his request, on condition of the 
 Pope being' reimbursed certain sums which, as 
 he alleg'ed, the defalcation of the duke had 
 occasioned. The duke of Urbino^ who was a 
 kinsman of the late Pope^ and whose enmity to 
 Leo was much less questionable than his attach- 
 ment to France, although he had taken service 
 Avith the latter during' the recent war^ had been 
 deprived by a sentence of the consistory of tlie 
 estates which he held of the see of Rome. 
 Francis required that he should be reinstated in 
 the possession of his demesne, and was satisfied 
 with an equivocal promise that this request 
 should be treated with the consideration it de- 
 sen^ed. The affair of the Pragmatic Sanction 
 was one not so easily disposed of, and was, there- 
 fore, for the present remitted to the conside- 
 ration of commissioners^ who were empowered 
 to settle the difficult questions which it in- 
 volved. 
 
 The church of France had long* claimed an The affair 
 exemption from the authority of the Pope in cer- cordatand 
 
 A . . .' .of the 
 
 tain local ecclesiastical affairs, and particularly Pragmatic 
 respecting the revenues of their benefices. By ^^ 
 an asseml3ly of the Galilean church at Bourges, 
 in 1438, a collection of rules was drawn up, 
 restricling the power of the Pope and purifying 
 
186 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 IV. 
 
 the ecclesiastical discipline from many errors 
 and abuses which had crept into it. These rules, 
 from their having been then allowed and agreed 
 to by the council^ were commonly called by the 
 name of the Pragmatic Sanction. Their main 
 points were^ that a general council should be 
 called every ten years ; that the annates, the re- 
 serves, and the expectatives which had been 
 sources of great profit to the Roman see, should 
 be abolished ; that the liberty of elections should 
 be re-established, and that the Pope's power of 
 nominating to benefices should be wholly ab- 
 rogated. It was clearly the interest of the 
 French king, that a regulation which secured to 
 him, and to the clergy of his kingdom so large 
 a share of the power which the Pope claimed, 
 should subsist. Leo, on the other hand, was 
 desirous of putting an end to a system which 
 was not only derogatory to the dignity of the 
 Holy See, but dimii ished its revenues. A con- 
 trivance was suggested by the commissioners 
 which reconciled their conflicting interests, and 
 by which each party gave up some points 
 in order to establish others. The Pope grant- 
 ed to Francis the power of nominating to va- 
 cant benefices within his kingdom — a power 
 which destroyed the freedom of ecclesiastical 
 elections ; and Francis, in return, conceded to 
 Jjeo the annates, or year's revenue, of such be- 
 nefices as the king should appoint to. This 
 regulation being reduced into form, was the 
 celebrated Concordat, which the university of 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 187 
 
 Paris afterwards refused to reg^ister or confonii <^HAr. 
 to, and which brought upon Francis the impu- ' 
 tation of having bartered the inah enable rights 
 of the church for his own pecuniary advan- 
 tage, (a) 
 
 These matters being thus dispose! of, the Pope Leo en- 
 exhorted Francis to engage in a war against the engage ' 
 Turks ; and, by way of inducement, offered him aSusaVe" 
 the title of Emperor of the East. The king ac- 
 cepted the compliment, but was too wise to 
 assume a title which, empty as it was, at the 
 best, he knew the Pope had no right to confer ; 
 and resolved rather to pursue objects which 
 were more easily attainable, and which con- 
 cerned more nearly his own honour and his 
 people's prosperity. 
 
 Francis had, to all appearance, accomplished The king 
 
 i-iiii- 1111 returns to 
 
 the purpose for which he had invaded Italy. France 
 Milan was not only regained, but was in a state 
 of perfect tranquillity. The people were in the 
 full enjoyment of their accustomed liberties, 
 and the vigilant government of the constable de 
 Bourbon, whom the king had appointed his 
 lieutenant-general of the Milanese, ensured their 
 safety against any foreign attack. The Swiss 
 had been pacified by the payment of their sti- 
 pends, and if their friendship was not secured, 
 their enmity was at least suspended. The Vene- 
 tians were still employed in the recovery of their 
 former possessions, and some part of the French 
 army under the command of Lautrec remained, 
 
 (a) Hist. S. Lateran. Concil., p. 184. Gaillard, t. iv. 
 
 to 
 
188 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 IV. 
 
 ill pursuance of the treaty, to assist tliem in this 
 design. The young* king was naturally desirous 
 to return to Prance to enjoy, in the congratu- 
 lations of his friends and the applauses of his 
 people, the most grateful fruits of his victory. 
 He, therefore, hastened from Milan to Lyons, 
 where he was joyfully welcomed by his queen, 
 his mother, and a great part of his court, who 
 celebrated his return with extraordinary mag- 
 nificence. 
 Jealousy of Tlic prescuce of Francis in his own dominions 
 respecting had also bccomc desirable on political grounds. 
 of Scotland Ferdinand of Spain, whose restless spirit neither 
 pretender, ycars uor iiifirmitics could quell, and who saw 
 in the French king's success the probability of 
 danger to h s Nea} olitan possessions, had been 
 busily employed in exciting the jealousy and 
 envy of the king of England. He had formed 
 a party in Hen y's court, at the head of which 
 were Wolsey and the bishop of Durham, by 
 whom Francis was denounced as the secret, but 
 dangerous enemy of England, and circumstances 
 which he could not, and ought not to have con- 
 trolled, were alleged in council as the proofs of 
 this accusation. D'Aubigny had repaired after 
 the battle of Marignan to Scotland, Avhere he 
 hai assumed the office of regent, to which he 
 had been appointed by the will of his kinsman^ 
 the late king. Some of the disturbances on the 
 borders, which were of constant occurrence, and 
 which the government had no power either to 
 foment or repress, were magnitied into acts of 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FITlSt. 1 H^^ 
 
 hostility against England ; anfl by an easy exten- ^"^^* 
 
 sion of the misrepresentation, Francis was said to ^ - 
 
 be the promoter of them. Some Scottish pirates 
 had plundered the vessels of English merchants, 
 and this too was laid to his charge. Richard 
 de la Pole, (a) who had been unjustly deprived 
 of his patrimony^ and of his title as earl of Suf- 
 folk^ and who had been driven from England, 
 sought a refuge in France, where his courage 
 and taleuts raised him into some notice. At the 
 head of a body of troops which he had got to- 
 gether, he joined in the continental wars in the 
 character of an independent leader. He was DeiaPoie, 
 then commonly called Rose Blanche, from his Bknche. 
 being of the house of York ; and although he had 
 not the slightest pretension to the crown of Eng- 
 
 [a] Edmoiid, earl of Suffolk, the eldest son of king Ed- 
 ward's sister, having- killed an inferior in his passion, fled to 
 his aunt Margaret, in Flanders. Pardoned by Henry VII. 
 he returned; but involving- himself in debt, he again resorted 
 to her, with his brother Richard; and as she had stirred up 
 so many conspiracies against the house of Tudor, Henry sent 
 a knight to watch him ; and he went to France and Germany, 
 to get aid for an invasion, (Hall, 495, fj). His brother 
 Richurd, being more steady and accomplished, was forgiven, 
 and made chamberlain to prince Arthur, (Pol. Virg-., 610). 
 When the archduke Philip visited England, the king desired 
 him to give up Edmond as a traitor, (Hall, 501). Philip 
 had him a prisoner ;.t Namur, and promised to surrender 
 him on condition that his life should be spared, which he 
 did, and Suffolk was coufiiied by Henry, (Guicc, 1. vii. p. 
 114). When he ceased to alarm, his brother Richard adopted 
 ii's di.«,turbing feelin^i^s and wild ambition, and returning into 
 France, became a rallying point for discontent and rebellion 
 against Henry. — Turner's Henry VIll., vol. i. p. 159. 
 
190 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, land, on that, or on any other ground, his name 
 
 '. was used for the purpose of colouring an invasion 
 
 of England, whenever that project was threaten- 
 ed. On the present occasion the favour he re- 
 ceived from Francis, which amounted merely to 
 his being permitted to take shelter in the French 
 kingdom, and to exercise his military profession^ 
 the only means of supporting existence that the 
 malice of his enemies had left him, were repre- 
 sented by the corrupt churchmen as a proof 
 that the French monarch favoured de la Pole's 
 pretensions to the English throne. L pon such 
 grounds they purposed to break the treaty with 
 France, and to commence a war. («) The good 
 sense and good faith of the English council 
 overruled so flagrant a violation of the national 
 honour; but could not prevent Henry from 
 Henry agreeing secretly to furnish the emperor, who 
 nishesthe solicitcd liiiTi by means of the indefatigable 
 wXmo- cardinal of Sion, ^vith money to assist in an 
 "^^' enterprise for the recovery of the Milanese on 
 behalf of Francis, the brother of Maximilian 
 Sforza. [b) 
 nlritt'acks ^^ persuade the emperor Maximilian to en- 
 the Mi- gage in a war was a matter of little difficultv, 
 
 lanese m <-> o .'7 
 
 person, 
 
 (a) Fiddes, 97. Lord Herbert. 
 
 [b) " In the moneth of October came intoEng-land, Mathew, 
 Bishop of Sedono', and rardinall, called comonly the cardinal 
 of Swyshes, fro' the cmperour Maximilia'. This cardinal was 
 a wyse man gf g-reat boldnes, and was wel entreteyned in the 
 court, and of the king. And at his co'te'placion and forolde 
 love, the kyng lent to the emperour Maximilian a great sum 
 of money. — Hall, f. 59. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 191 
 
 and the money from England, coupled with the 
 promises of Ferdinand, and the exhortations of 
 the cardinal of Sioii^ soon brought him to the 
 resolution of commencing the attack. Lautrec 
 was with his own and the Venetian troops be- 
 fore Brescia, the garrison of which had agreed 
 to surrender if they were not succoured ^vithin 
 thirty days. Before that time had expired^ count 
 Roquendolf succeeded in introducing 6,000 Ger- 
 mans into the fortress ; and shortly afterwards, 
 to the astonishment of all the w orld^ the indolent 
 MaximiHan himself appeared at the head of 16,000 
 lanz-knechts, 14,000 Swiss of such of the can- 
 tons as were not included in the league with 
 France, and a large body of cavalry raised on 
 the credit of the promised supplies. The French 
 and the Venetians^ who were not prepared to en- 
 counter any such force, retired to Milan, which 
 the constable immediately put as well as he could 
 into a posture of defence ; but in doing so he was 
 obliged to destroy the suburbs of the city, to the 
 great distress and ruin of a large part of the in- 
 habitants. Maximilian, however, who was always 
 more prompt to begin than he was firm in exe- 
 cuting a project of danger, pursued but slowly 
 the advantage which his sudden appearance had 
 given him over the allied armies, while the 
 prompt succours which the constable received 
 from France, and the arrival of the celebrated 
 Swiss leader Albert de la Pierre^ with 13,000 of 
 his countrymen, presented a formidable force 
 against him. The influence of the cardinal de 
 Sicn, ever fatal to France, was again exerted. 
 
 CHAP. 
 IV. 
 
inutmv. 
 
 192 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 7^j|g Swiss auxiliaries were induced to object 
 IV. . . . 
 
 ! against encountering their countrymen. Bour- 
 bon, acting under the indignation which this 
 conduct was well calculated to excite, immedi- 
 ate! v disbanded them^ and^ with the exception of 
 the company which Albert de la Pierre command- 
 ed, and who stipulated that they should be em- 
 ployed only against the Germans in the emperor's 
 army, the whole of this force quitted the garri- 
 son. 
 
 His troops Maximilian, upon learninsrthis news, believed 
 that his conquest was certain. He was loud in 
 his denunciations against Milan, and threatened 
 to raze it to its foundations, and to sow its scite 
 with salt, unless his rage should be appeased by 
 an instant ciipitulation. He sate down before 
 the city, and promised himself, by its plunder, 
 to obtain the money which he w^as to have re- 
 ceived from the king of England for the purpose 
 of paying his army, only a small portion of w hich 
 had reached his hands. («) The Swiss had now^ 
 been in his ranks for more than a month w ithout 
 receiving any part of their stipends ; they knew 
 Maximilian too w ell to trust to his promises, and 
 their accustomed insolence began to display itself 
 in unceremonious clamour. Stafler, their colo- 
 nel, thrust himself one morning into the ernperor^s 
 bed-chamber, and demanded the arrears w hich 
 were due to them. The emperor tried by alter- 
 
 [a) The house of Frescobaldi, Genoese merchants and 
 bankers, to whom the money had been pai(h in England, for 
 the purpo.-e of bein^ remitted to the emperor, had filled 
 before (heir bills became due. — Hall. f. 59. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 193 
 
 iiate menaces, promises^ and entreaties^ to rid ^"^p- 
 
 himself of this troublesome applicant; but in '— 
 
 vain. The colonel told him drjly that the soldiers 
 had made up their minds if they did not receive 
 the money which was then due to them^ that they 
 would go over to the constable of France, who 
 oifered them present pay. This intimation filled 
 the emperor with alarm ; he remembered the fate 
 of Ludovico Sforza, whom these same Swiss had 
 delivered to the French, and believin*^ that he 
 had reason to fear a similar result from their dis- 
 content, he promised to accompany the cardinal 
 de Sion with their arrears to the quarters of the 
 Swiss in the evening of the same day. As soon 
 as he had relieved himself by this promise of his 
 importunate visitant, he rose, and took refuge 
 among his own Germans, with whom however 
 he hardly thought himself in safety. Trivulzio 
 added to his terror, by dispatching a fictitious 
 letter, which w as certain to fall into his hands, 
 addressed to the Swiss leaders, and purporting 
 that a plot was forming against the person of 
 Maximilian. Ipon reading this, the emperor 
 ^vas convinced that his only safety lav in imnie- 
 diate flight. He therefore dispatched the car- 
 dinal de Sion to the Swiss captains with 16,000 
 crowns, and an abundance of promises, bidding 
 him inform them that he was going to Trent to 
 receive a sum of 80,000 crowns, for which he 
 held bills of exchange ; and having thus gained 
 time enough to accomplish the design he had Maximi- 
 formed, he set ofl* in the night, accompanied camps. 
 
 VOL. I. o 
 
194 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. Q^\y lyy 200 hoFse, leaving his army to do as their 
 
 '■ — own wills might suggest ; and before his flight 
 
 was discovered^ he was beyond the reach of pur- 
 suit. The army of which he was the nominal 
 leader was of course immediately disbanded^ 
 and the siege of Milan raised. The Swiss in- 
 demnified themselves by plundering in their way 
 home, such towns as could not resist them, and 
 the Germans fled from the attack of the count de 
 St. Pol, Montmorenci, and Lescun, whom the 
 constable dispatched to harass their retreat. By 
 this ridiculous termination of an enterprise which 
 in its commencement appeared really formida- 
 ble, the French were left in the undisturbed pos- 
 session of the Milanese^ and Maximilian com- 
 pleted the destruction of that reputation for cou- 
 rage and military skill which he had, not un- 
 deservedly, gained in his earlier years. 
 The death Thc sicgc of Brcscia was then resumed, and 
 nandof was sooii terminated by the capitulation of that 
 ^''"'* city. Verona still held out; and while Marc 
 Antonio Colon na defended it, seemed to bid 
 defiance to all attack. The death of Ferdinand, 
 however^ which happened soon afterwards, some- 
 what suddenly, [a) relieved France from her most 
 
 (a) The death of Ferdinand has been ascribed to the effect 
 of a stimulating medicine administered to him by his wife; 
 but, considering the laborious life he bad led, and that he 
 had attained the age of sixty-five, his dissolution may be ac- 
 counted for without having recourse to the supposition that 
 it was occasioned by an absurd desire to revive physical 
 powers, which were extinct. There is a story connected 
 with his death which, although it may be beneath the dig- 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 195 
 
 dangerous enemy, and left the king at liberty to ch^p- 
 
 devise means for securing his possessions, and '■ 
 
 keeping in check the powers by which they 
 were menaced, (a) 
 
 The death of Ferdinand, the catholic, had a chaiies 
 
 . succeeds to 
 
 most important influence upon the interests of the throne 
 Europe, by introducing amongst its monarchs 
 one of the most able and enterprising spirits 
 which this or anv other age had beheld. A no- 
 tion had prevailed that Ferdinand would be- 
 queath the crown of Spain to his younger grand- 
 son, who bore his own name, and had been 
 educated under his inspection ; but his provi- 
 sion in this respect was consonant with the 
 policy of his whole life. His grandson, Charles, 
 
 nity of history, is strongly characteristic of the superstitions 
 of the times. It had been foretold to Ferdinand that he 
 should die at Madrigal, a town of Castile, and he had there- 
 fore always avoided it. He was on his road to Seville when 
 his illness attacked him, and was obliged to stop at the first 
 village he came to. He inquired what it was called, and being 
 told it was Madrigalejo, he said his hour was come, and that 
 he was a dead man. 
 
 (rt) The suspicions which the court of England had affected 
 to entertain respecting Richard de la Pole, had suggested to 
 Francis the means of annoying Henry; for it seems that, 
 after Maximilian's expedition, he said, and publicly enough, 
 that it might be reported to the English king, that he knew 
 Henry was his enemy, and had aided Maximilian ; and, ad- 
 dressing de la Pole, he said, " Because I know your title to 
 be good to the crown of England, I shall shortly endeavour, 
 without fail, to make such peace with the emperor, and to 
 establish my affairs on such a footing that 1 may be able to 
 assist you, both with men and money, towards obtaining 
 your right."— Fiddes's Wolsey, p. 1G2. 
 
 o2 
 
196 
 
 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 IV. 
 
 was already the heir apparent to the house of 
 Austria, and to him he left his Spanish domi- 
 nions, in the belief that such an union of terri- 
 tory would be the best means of preserving its 
 possession entire^ and of opposing the power of 
 France, towards which nation even the contem- 
 plation of approaching death could not weaken 
 either his animosity or his jealousy. 
 tiousit ^^^^ youthful Charles, who had as yet given 
 tweenthe no tokcu of that temper or capacity which his 
 
 ministers of ^ r J 
 
 T^rancis subscqueut life displayed, manifested, upon his 
 Charles, acccssiou to the Spanish throne, a strong desire 
 to secure the friendship and alliance of the French 
 king. A conference was proposed^ and eagerly 
 accepted by Francis, to whom it afforded an op- 
 portunity for bringing forward his own claims 
 upon Naples, and those of his ally, Henri d'Al- 
 bret, to the kingdom of Navarre, of which Fer- 
 dinand had dispossessed Jean^ the late king, and 
 in the attempt to recover Avhich Francis had, 
 for the ^rst time, borne arms. Unwilling as 
 Charles was to give up the possession of Na- 
 varre, the frontier situation of which made it 
 desirable that it should always be in his hands, 
 or at least under his control, he knew too well 
 the value of Francises amity to endanger it by 
 rejecting his claims ; he therefore readily con- 
 sented that plenipotentiaries should be appointed 
 on either side to arrange the question bet\^ een 
 them, and Noyon was fixed upon for their deli- 
 berations. It happened that the settlement of 
 these questions fell into the hands of the persons 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 
 
 197 
 
 by \\hom the education of the two princes had ^"^^* 
 
 been directed^ Goiiffier de Boisy being appointed 
 
 the commissioner on the part of Francis, while 
 Chievres represented the interests of Charles, [a) 
 
 A coniuncture more favourable for the in- J/eatyof 
 
 I' r*ioyon. 
 
 terests of France could not have happened. 
 The situation of Spain was by no means secure. 
 Charles was unknown to the people of that 
 country ; the individuals who swayed his coun- 
 cils were distrusted and disliked; and a general 
 
 [a] The manner of Charles's education, as related by du 
 Bellay, explains the aptitude he displayed for government at 
 the early period of his life, when he was raised to the empire. 
 *' Pour vons dire ce que j'appiis en ce voyage que fait 
 Mgr. de Vendosme, et de la f.con dont estoit instruit le dit 
 Prince d'Espagne, le Seigneur de Chievres, que je vous ay 
 dit cydevant, avoit este par le Roy Louis ordonne gouverneur 
 du dit prince, approuve par les bonnes villes de Flandres, le 
 nourrissoit alors, encore qu'il n'eut attaint les 15 ans de son 
 aage en telle sorte que tous les pacqnets qui venoient de toutcs 
 provinces luy estoient presentez, encores qu'il fust la nuict, 
 lesquels apres avour veuz, les rapportoit luy mesmes en son 
 conseil, oil toutes choses esloient deliberees en sa presence. 
 Un jour estant le seigneur de Genly demeur^ ambassadeur 
 pres la personne du dit prince de par le roy, et moy de- 
 meure, par le commandement de mondit sieur de Vendosme, 
 avecques le sieur de Genly, le seigneur de Chievres donnoit 
 a souper audit de Genly ; ou, eslans entrez en propos, M. de 
 Genly dit au seigneur de Chievres qu'il estoit estonne de 
 quoy il donnoit tant de travail a Vesprit de ce jeune prince, 
 veu quHl avoit moijen de ten soulager, Le seigneur de 
 Chievres luy respondit : Mon cousin, je suis tuteur et ciu 
 ruteur de sa jeunesse ; je veux quand je moiirray, qiCil 
 demeure en liherte : car sHl n'' entendoit ses affaires, ilj'au- 
 droit, apres mon decez, qu'il eut un autre curateur, pour 
 v'avoir entendu ses affaires, et n^avoir este nourry an tra-^ 
 tail, se reposant toujuurs sur autrvyy — (. i. p. 44. 
 
198 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, apprehension was entertained that his aflfectioil 
 
 —^ — !^ for the place of his birth would induce him to 
 
 prefer the Low Countries to Spain. There was, 
 besides, a party in Arragon well affected to the 
 youthful Ferdinand, and even in Castile it was 
 thought that Charles had no right to ascend the 
 throne during the lifetime of his mother ; al- 
 thoug'h the state of her health was such as to 
 preclude the possibility of her ever recovering 
 the use of her i ntellects . The infl uence of France 
 mightj out of such materials^ have excited trou- 
 bles in Spain, which Charles would have found it 
 difficult to overcome ; while in Flanders, which^ 
 by proximity and by inclination^ was well dis- 
 posed to France, the same influence might prove 
 still more injurious. Notwithstanding this fa- 
 vourable appearance, the negociations ended 
 without anv real advantasce to Francis, and the 
 superior cunning of Chievres triumphed over 
 the single-minded Gouffier, as the consummate 
 prudence and coolness of his pupil ever mas- 
 tered the more heroic character of the French 
 king. 
 
 The question relating to Navarre was dis' 
 posed of by a promise that as soon as Charles 
 should be settled in his Spanish dominions^ he 
 would examine into the claims of Henri d'Al- 
 bret, and make such satisfaction as justice should 
 require, or that Francis should be at liberty to 
 aid the king of Navarre in any manner he might 
 think fit. Francis's pretensions to Naples had 
 been clearly defined by the treaty which Ferdi- 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 199 
 
 naiid had entered into on his marriagfe with chap. 
 
 TV 
 
 Germaine de Foix, and by which he stipulated ' 
 that if he should die without children by that 
 princess^ and she should survive him, one half 
 of the Neapolitan kingdom should revert to 
 France. This case had happened, and the claim 
 of Francis being thus put beyond dispute, it was 
 settled by an ^expedient at that time very com- 
 mon in royal treaties. Charles engaged to marry 
 Louise, the daughter of Francis^ then one year 
 old, and Francis agreed to give as her dowry all 
 his title to the Neapolitan dominions ; but in 
 the mean time, Charles, being in possession of 
 Naples, the king of Frauce was to receive an 
 annual payment of 100,000 crowns until the 
 marriage, and half of that sum until the princess 
 should have issue. Upon this basis a league, 
 defensive and offensive^ was entered into between 
 the monarchs, an opportunity was reserved to 
 Maximilian to join it if he should feel so dis- 
 posedj and an interview was appointed to take 
 place between the monarchs at Cambray. In 
 the mean time, the future rivals expressed their 
 esteem and affection for each other by an inter- 
 change of presents and compliments, (a) 
 
 (a) They sent to each other the collars of their respective 
 national orders. Charles sent to Francis some fine Neapo- 
 litan horses, called him (in accordance with the custom of 
 that day when a younger monarch addressed his senior) his 
 *' good father and friend," and communicated to him, as to a 
 person who felt an interest in his good fortune, the success 
 of his proceedings in Spain. " Pour continuation de la fer- 
 vente amour," he says in one of his letters at this period. 
 
200 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. Qi* Prancis's sincerity, or of the purity and 
 
 integrity of his motives in the arrangement, no 
 
 reasonal)le donbt can be entertained ; while one 
 of the earliest indications of that craftv duplicitv 
 
 w M. %* 
 
 of which Charles was so eminent a master, may 
 ])e traced in the fact of his having entered, in the 
 October following^ into a defensive league with 
 the king of England and the emperor^ whereby 
 he bound himself to levy war on any power by 
 which either of the others should be attacked, 
 and this at a time when Francis's well-known 
 league with the Venetians compelled him to 
 assist them against the emperor, {a) The acqui- 
 escence of Maximilian to the treaty of Noyon^ 
 to which he was induced by the payment of 
 100,000 crowns by the state of Venice, prevented 
 the consequences which might have resulted 
 from this double dealing of the young Spanish 
 monarch, and restored peace between the em- 
 peror and France. 
 ibrms^a Fraiicis availed himself of this occasion to 
 
 league with 
 
 ♦!!.^«J!r)lf' *' ^"® J® ^^^^ porte, j'ai voulii vous faire part qui j'ai ^te 
 proclame roi dans mes voyaumes de Castille, Leon, et Gre- 
 nade, etque j'esperel'^tre dememeen Arragon." — Gaillard, 
 t. i. c. 3. 
 
 [a) Maximilian, whose want of money rendered him al- 
 ways open to the best bidder, withdrew afterwards from the 
 last mentioned league, and signified his adherence to that of 
 Noyon, but not until he found that Verona must yield to the 
 joint attacks of Lautrec's army, and to the famine which had 
 reduced the garrison to a defenceless state. A sum of 
 100,000 crowns, offered him by the Venetians, induced him 
 to yield to them that which they had already within their 
 ^•rasp, 
 
 tic States. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 201 
 
 effect a treaty at Fribourg with the whole Hcl- ^ " ^''• 
 
 vetic body, by which the nation bound itself '- — 
 
 never to bear arms against France, and the sti- 
 pulations of which were always inviolably pie- 
 served. [a) 
 
 On the 28th of February, 1518, the queen Bin^ofthe 
 
 • ^ ^ ciauphm 
 
 was delivered at Amboise of a son, who re- Francis. 
 ceived his father's name of Francis. The Pope, 
 who knew that Francis suspected him, and not 
 without reason, for the part he had lately played 
 in covertly assisting the emperor's attack^ took 
 this opportunity of deprecating his resentment, 
 and of effecting a closer alliance with him. It 
 was in truth for this purpose, but under the 
 pretext of representing his holiness as the god- 
 father of the young prince^ that Lorenzo de' 
 Medici, the Pope's nephew, now visited France. 
 The king accepted the overtures which he 
 made, and gave him in marriage (b) Madeleine 
 
 [a] Some separate corps of adventurers, instigated by the 
 cardinal de Sion, or by the inducement of higher pay, were 
 found to fight against France ; but this was always without 
 the sanction of the nation, while numerous Swiss regiments 
 were always in the French ranks. — Gaillard, 1. i. c. 4. 
 
 [b) The marquis de Fleuranges describes, among other 
 details, which are too gross to be alluded to, and which are 
 for the same reason almost incredible, the entertainments 
 which were given in celebration of these nuptials. " During 
 eight days," he says, *' the combats continued, in which the 
 nouveau marie (for whom Fleuranges seems to have a great 
 contempt) did his best in the presence of his lady. There 
 was a citadel of wood, which the duke d'Alen^on defended, 
 and the duke de Bourbon besieged, and into which the king, 
 accompanied by Fleuranges, introduced some succours. It 
 contained a quantity of artillery, which consisted of large 
 
202 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. ^Q Bouloo'ne^ one of his relatives. Lorenzo, in 
 
 IV. 
 
 — return, pledged himself and his house to the 
 
 support of the interests of Francis, {a) 
 Bourbon The constable^ Bourbon^ who had remained 
 
 recalled . . n i 
 
 from Mi- at Milan since its conquest, was now recalled. 
 The cause of this proceeding is variously rekUed. 
 By some writers it is attributed to the influence 
 of the Pope^ against whom the constable had 
 expressed an open hostility, whose friendship 
 
 wooden cannon, cercies de fer, qui tiroient avecque de la 
 poudre, et les houlets, qui estoient grosses balles pleines de 
 vent, et aussi grosses que le cul d'utig tonneau, qui frap- 
 potent au fravers du ceulx qui tenoient le siege, et les 
 ruoient par terre sans leur faire aucun mal, et estoit chose 
 fort plaisante a veoir des bonds qu^elles faisoient! The 
 king and Fleuranges made a sally, and were encountered by- 
 Bourbon and the duke de Vendome ; an engagement ensued. 
 Le plus beau qu^on ait oncques vu, et le plus approchant 
 du naturel de la guerre : mais le passe-temps ne plus pas 
 a tous, car il y en eust beaucoup de tues et affolesj*^ The 
 humour of Le jeune avantureux, in the last passage, is 
 irresistible. 
 
 (a) One of the conditions of this alliance was, that Francis 
 should withdraw his protection from the duke of Urbino, 
 which he did ; but the duke, who had some of the prudence 
 as well as the fierceness of his uncle, Julius II., had foreseen 
 this conjuncture, and had provided against it by taking into 
 his pay a great part of the troops whom the late peace had 
 left without employment. He made such good use of his 
 army, as not only to protect his own dominions, but to 
 attack those of the church. After a conflict, which was 
 conducted with great ferocity on both sides, the gold of the 
 Medici effected that which their prowess could not accom- 
 plish. The duke's soldiers were induced to desert: he 
 found himself almost alone, and was compelled to seek an 
 asylum at Mantua, leaving his duchy to Lorenzo de' Medici, 
 who took possession of it by right of conquest. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 
 
 203 
 
 he believed to be fatal to the interests of France, ^ " f ^^ 
 
 and whose perfidy he had in vain requested per- ^ — 
 
 mission to be allowed to punish. Others as- 
 cribe it to the persuasions of the countess of Lautrecis 
 
 ^ . appointed 
 
 Chateaubriant, whose ascendancy over 1^ rancis inhissteacu 
 began now to shew itself; and the fact of her 
 brother, the marshal Lautrec, being made go- 
 vernor of the Milanese, in the room of Bour- 
 boiij in some degree sup])orts this view of the 
 subject. The new governor offered to assist 
 the Pope in his war against the duke of Urbino, 
 but his holiness, who judged of the sincerity of 
 others by that which he himself practised, did 
 not venture to accept this offer, and contented 
 himself with securing the neutrality of the 
 French . 
 
 The pause which now ensued from the hos- Francis's^ 
 tilities in which Francis^, upon his accession to pleasure. 
 the throne, had been engaged, gave him leisure 
 for indulging in pursuits, for which the only ex- 
 cuse that can be offered is his age, which was 
 that of " folly and the passions/' and the open 
 libertinism of the times in which he lived. The 
 virtuous and prudent Anne of Brittany had dis- 
 countenanced the appearance of ladies at the 
 court, excepting on occasions of ceremony and 
 parade. The duchess d'Angouleme, not less 
 from her love of society, which she knew must 
 be insipid as well as gross without female in- 
 fluence, had induced her son to change this 
 system. The wives and daughters of the nobles 
 of France^ formed under her influence a part of 
 
204 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, i^ijg courts and habits of gallantry prevailed, 
 
 '. which, by a transition not unnatural to the then 
 
 existing' manners, soon degenerated into licen- 
 tiousness. Francis's amorous disposition was 
 too well calculated to encourage the dissolute- 
 ness that prevailed ; and the mild, but retiring, 
 virtues of his wife, although they secured his 
 respect and attection, could not fix his fidelity. 
 The story Amous: tlic uoblcs who repaired to the court 
 
 of the » / 
 
 countess de ^^ as the couut clc Cliateaubriaut ! he was related 
 biiant. by marriage to the younger branch of the house 
 of Foix, three of the brothers of Avhich family 
 were in the army, and had already she^^n that 
 they were worthy representatives cf a name 
 which had long stood eminent in the martial 
 aimals of France. The count de Chateau- 
 briant had married their sister, whose extra- 
 ordinary beauty had made up for her want of a 
 dowry ; and w ith a caution, in which the event 
 proved that he was too well justified, he had de- 
 clined bringing her to court. The report of her 
 charms had, however, reached the ears of the 
 king, who invited her husband to permit her to 
 visit the metropolis. The count made various 
 excuses ; but, finding that he could not resist 
 the importunities of the king, he endeavoured 
 to put an end to them b} assuring Francis that 
 his wife loved her retirement too well to quit it, 
 and that, as hitherto all his persuasions had 
 failed, he felt unwilling to repeat them, or to 
 force her inclinations. He had foreseen that all 
 kinds of stiatagems \vould be resorted to for 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 
 
 the purpose of making* him display his hidden 
 beauty^ and had adopted a precaution which he 
 trusted would effectually protect him against the 
 artifices of the king, and those minions of tlie 
 court w ho he knew, not less from a love of mis- 
 chief than from a desire of accomplishing the 
 king's will, would endeavour to thwart his in- 
 tentions. For this purpose he had procured 
 two rings^ the exact counterparts of each othei% 
 one of which he had given to his countes-^, and 
 the other he kept in his own possession. Vv hen 
 he was about to quit his home he told her that he 
 should perhaps when at court be compelled to 
 invite her thither, but he enjoined her to pay no 
 attention to his letters, how ever importunately he 
 might write, until she should receive one from 
 him in which his ring should be inclosed. The 
 young and innocent lady, who had always lived 
 at a great distance from the court, who was 
 happy in the love of her husband^ and who found 
 in his castle, situate in a remote part of Brittany, 
 all the splendour she then desired, unhesitat- 
 ingly promised him obedience. The count 
 again appeared in Paris ; and again encoun- 
 tered the half-jesting reproaches of Francis for 
 not having brought his wife with him. He 
 assured the king that her own wish alone kept 
 her at home ; and, in proof of his veracity, he 
 offered to w rite in such terms as the king might 
 dictate, a request that she would join him. 
 Francis instantly accepted this offer, the letter 
 was (bspatched, but the ring not accompanying 
 
 205 
 
 CHAP. 
 IV. 
 
206 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 IV. 
 
 it, the count received from his lady such an 
 answ^er as he expected^ and this epistle he tri- 
 umphantly produced to the king ; thus for a time 
 relieving himself from solicitations which his 
 jealous fears rendered extremely irksome. The 
 mischievous perseverance of some of the cour- 
 tiers however^ helped them to a discovery of 
 his secret. He had a servant^ whose fidelity and 
 attachment had gained his entire confidence. 
 This man, who had observed the extraordinary 
 care which his master took of his ring^ asked 
 him the reason of his solicitude, and, to him 
 the count did not hesitate to explain it, in the 
 belief that it was of all things the least likely 
 that he would ever divulge it. The servant was 
 bribed by some persons about the court, for 
 the purpose of gaining intelligence respecting 
 the countess, and the story of the ring being 
 known through his treachery^ it was not difficult 
 to get him to steal it. A skilful goldsmith 
 made a fac-simile of the jewel with great dis- 
 patch, and the original, after a short absence, 
 was placed where the count, who had been very 
 much distressed at missing it, found it again, and 
 believed he had merelv mislaid it. He was then 
 urged once more to write to the countess, which 
 he did with unhesitating confidence The false 
 ring was inserted into his letter, and dispatched 
 into Brittany, and his first knowledge of the fraud 
 that had been practised upon him was derived 
 from the sudden appearance of his obedient Avife, 
 who immediately upon the receipt of the letter 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 207 
 
 with the jewel had hastened to Paris. Here the chap. 
 
 IV. 
 
 romance of the story ends. The king saw the '— 
 
 countess^ and was struck with her beauty. She 
 fell beneath the artifices which were employed 
 for her ruin; and her husband retired to his 
 castle to hide his misery and dishonour, in the 
 scene of his former happiness, but which her 
 frailty had now made a solitude, [a) 
 
 The po^^'er which his new mistress had gained Jf^JJe"^^ 
 over the king soon became apparent. She was ^^^7^^,^ 
 too young, and knew too little of the practices king. 
 of the w orld and of the court to care for the 
 exercise of the extensive influence she pos- 
 sessed ; but her more aspiring brothers directed 
 it unscrupulously as their ambition prompted ; 
 and one of the first uses to which her power w as 
 applied had been the obtaining the government 
 of Milan for her brother Lautrec. She became 
 the head of a party^ but was still a mere puppet 
 ill the hands of others^ and proved^ whenever she 
 was deprived of their assistance, that she who 
 had not wit enough to keep herself honest, was 
 altogether unable to counteract the operations 
 of the intriguing spirits which surrounded her. 
 Among these the duchess d'Angouleme Avas the 
 most powerful and important. She saw with 
 jealousy and discontent the rival which Fran- 
 cis's passions had raised up against her ; but 
 she had too much cunning to oppose her openly, 
 and tried rather to engage her assistance in her 
 own plans than to thwart those of which others 
 made the countess the instrument. 
 
 [a] Varillas, 1. vi.' 
 
208 
 
 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 IV. 
 
 Francis's 
 encourage- 
 ment of li- 
 terature. 
 
 J 
 
 0^ }J* 
 
 .f 
 
 Learned 
 men and 
 
 Francis did not, however, lose siglit in the in- 
 dulgence of his passions, or in the pleasures 
 with ^\hich his court abounded, of the true in- 
 terests of his subjects. A love of literature had 
 distinguished him from his earliest years. When 
 he was yet a boy, Francois Tissard, a professor 
 of the university, had dedicated to him a Hebrew 
 grammar, the first that had been published in 
 France ; (a) and although the mere fact of the 
 dedication ^vouM prove but httle, there is else- 
 where ample evidence that Francis had shewn so 
 great an inclination for study, and had profited 
 by it so well, as to justify the selection of the 
 professor. The celebrated Balthasar Castiglione, 
 the author of II Cortegiano, (a book which, al- 
 tliough, in the changes society has undergone, 
 it is now forgotten, was then not quite unde- 
 servedly called the Golden Book,) when, at the 
 court of Louis XII. shewed to the duke of Valois 
 the first part of his work. The judicious criti- 
 cism which Francis, young as he was, then 
 passed upon the book, surprised and delighted 
 Castiglione, who, in publishing the subsequent 
 parts, -r^cknowledged his obhgations to the prince, 
 and predicted the advancement of letters under 
 his influecce, a prophecy of which its author 
 lived to see the entire fulfilment. 
 
 Louis Xil., notwUhstanding the engrossing na- 
 
 [a] Tissard is said to*,have introduced the printing of 
 Greek books into France, "^hich he effected with the assis- 
 tance of Gilles Courmont, a printer, by whom Greek and He- 
 brew types were cast for the* first lime at Paris. — Gaillard, 
 t. V. p. ()3. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 
 
 209 
 
 CHAP. 
 IV. 
 
 state of li- 
 
 ture of the political troubles which occupied the 
 greater part of his busy reign, had not been in- 
 sensible to the necessity and advantage of encou- Sau^re in 
 raging the progress of learning, and had earnestly ^'^"''^" 
 and successfully engaged in facilitating it. He 
 attracted to his court that learned Greek, John 
 Lascaris, whose merit the magnificent Lorenzo de' 
 Medici had lirst recognised, and whom he had 
 employed to collect Greek manuscripts for the 
 Florentine library. Louis conferred on him the 
 more distinguished office of ambassador to Ve- 
 nice, and it was under his instruction that Budee 
 and Danes, two of the most learned men of 
 France, perfected their studies. He also secured 
 the services of the learned Girolamo Aleandro^ 
 to w hom he granted a pension of 500 crowns of 
 gold, and who taught publicly the Latin, Greek, 
 and Hebrew languages in France. His profici- 
 ency in learning may be ascertained by a lexicon 
 which he published in 1512, and the estimation 
 in which he was held, by the fact of its having 
 been printed at the expense of his scholars. 
 Aleandro received in the same year, ex speciali 
 gratia, the degree of master of arts in the uni- 
 versity of Paris, [a) 
 
 [a] Aleandro' s talents, however, raised him to higher 
 honours ; he was appointed by Leo X. the librarian to the 
 Vatican, and was afterwards sent as the papal leg-ate to the 
 imperial court, for the avowed purpose of endeavouring to 
 extirpate the heresies of Luther. The eloquent oration 
 which he made on this occasion, has been given by Palla- 
 vicini, (1. xxv.) and its effect was so powerful as to draw 
 upon the author the violent abuse of Luther, who, in the ex- 
 VOL. I. P 
 
210 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 IV. 
 
 The spirit of the times too was favourable 
 to the advancement of letters. Some men of 
 powerful genius had arisen^ and the impulse 
 they had given to learning and science, was 
 communicated throughout Europe. Since the 
 year 1470^ the art of printing had been success- 
 fully practised in Paris, and its mighty influence 
 had pervaded the whole kingdom. Tiie fall of 
 Constantinople, which had driven the most learn- 
 ed men into the more northern parts of Europe, 
 and had compelled them to the active exercise of 
 their talents^ and the communication of the know- 
 ledge they possessed, as the means of their exis- 
 tence, had produced an effect which can hardly be 
 conceived in the present state of the world, when 
 wisdom may be truly said to '^ cry out in the 
 streets/^ The illustrious house of Medici had 
 made itself honoured throughout the world by 
 the munificent protection which it had afforded 
 to the persecuted foreigners, who came in utter 
 destitution to implore charity ; and the glorious 
 example had been followed in every country 
 which had knowledge and intelligence enough 
 to profit by it. 
 
 Francis was as well disposed, as he was well 
 qualified, to encourage the workings of the 
 spirit which was abroad. His court could boast 
 
 ercise of that powerful and popular scurrility which made 
 him so formidable a foe, accused him of being a Jew ; for 
 which charge there appears to be no other foundation than 
 that which his perfect knowledge of the Hebrew language 
 furnished. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 211 
 
 of some of the most learned men of Europe. 
 The estimable Etienne Poncher, bishop of Paris^ 
 who^ under the most gentle manners, concealed 
 that firmness and decision of character which 
 are unquestionable marks of a great mind^ al- 
 though he had relinquished the office of chan- 
 cellor, maintained, in the councils of Francis^ 
 the station to which his merit had elevated him 
 in those of Louis XII. («) Guillaume Petit, 
 Guillaume Cop, (b) Pierre du Chatel, Jacques 
 Colin, and Guillaume Pelissier, were selected by 
 Francis, on his accession to the throne, as the 
 objects of his patronage ; a choice, which was as 
 honourable to his discrimination as to their me- 
 rit. The learned Guillaume Budee, whose ta- 
 lents had been buried in the obscurity which 
 often surrounds modest merit, was sought out 
 by Francis, and solicited to take that position 
 in his court which his acquirements enabled 
 him to fill so honourably and advantageously. 
 His profound knowledge of Greek and Latin, 
 and his facility in writing the latter language ; 
 his zeal for the advancement of learning, and 
 his amiable and upright demeanour, secured for 
 him the respect of his contemporaries, and placed 
 him in competition with Erasmus. The Dutch 
 
 (a) Erasmus, whose praise is often as extravagant as his 
 censure is unjust, says, he seemed to be inspired by heaven 
 for the purpose of restoring letters and true piety. 
 
 [h) He was the most eminent physician of his day, and 
 the first translator of the works of Hippocrates, Galen, and 
 Paulus iEginetus. 
 
 p 2 
 
 CHAP. 
 IV. 
 
CHAP. 
 IV. 
 
 212 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 professor, if he possessed no greater learning 
 than Bud^e^ (and this opinion their mutual 
 friends seem to have held,) had a more striking 
 and popular style of displaying it. Budee was 
 satisfied with being useful ; Erasmus was not 
 content unless he commanded loud applause, as 
 well as esteem. Their rivalry, however, if such 
 a competition may be so called, never interfered 
 with the friendship of these learned men, of 
 which Budee gave many disinterested proofs. 
 Francis induced him to quit his retreat. He 
 first made him maitre des requetes, then prevot 
 des marchands, and afterwards his librarian. 
 When he had occasion to send an ambassador 
 to Rome, he selected Budee for this office, and 
 thought he flattered Leo by sending to him a 
 man, whose erudition and accomplishments must 
 make him agreeable to the cultivated mind of 
 the pontiff. 
 Francis Thc study of lauguagcs was properly consi- 
 
 tofound a dered in the then state of literature, as the most 
 lege. "^^ important branch of learning, and to this Francis 
 applied his attention. He proposed to found a 
 royal college, for the express purpose of teaching 
 Greek, Latin, and Hebrew, which were said to 
 be wholly neglected in the university of Paris, {a) 
 
 (a) Galland, in his funeral oration upon Francis, speaks of 
 the general ignorance of these subjects in terms, which, if 
 they are not exaggerated, reflect the greatest disgrace on 
 the university. He asks, whether before the time of Francis, 
 it was known in France, that such a language as the Hebrew 
 /jxisted ; and defies it to be proved, that there was a single 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 213 
 
 CHAP. 
 IV. 
 
 The execution of this plan was entrusted to 
 Budee^ who, with most honourable disinterested- 
 ness^ warmly urged the king to place Erasmus Erasmus is 
 at the head of" the projected institution. Fran- become its 
 cis directed him to write to Erasmus^ who, i'""^'p^- 
 although he had withstood many brilliant of- 
 fers, felt too much flattered, as well as tempted, 
 to refuse it hastily. The other learned men 
 of France earnestly seconded the request which 
 Budee made to Erasmus in the king^s name_, 
 and the admiration which his talents had in- 
 spired, may be best conceived from its being 
 sufficient to neutralise the envy which the appear- 
 ance of so formidable a stranger was likely to 
 excite. Erasmus hesitated on receiving these 
 invitations ; but at length his independent tem- 
 per revolted from the notion of living in a court, 
 and he declined to change his free condition. He 
 is said to have been encouraged in this refusal by 
 Tunstal, then the English ambassador at Brus- 
 sels, with whom Erasmus lived in habits of daily 
 intimacy, and who, from a desire to gain the 
 advantage of his friend's exertions for his own 
 country, represented to him the opposition he 
 would be likely to encounter in France from the 
 intrigues of the theologians, by whom Eras- 
 mus believed he was hated as much as he had 
 given them cause to do. He had already 
 experienced some annoyances from the church- 
 men of Louvain, and determined not to ex- 
 
 Frenchman who could read Greek, or write Latin. — Petr, 
 Galland, Oral, Fiineb. Franc. I. Gaiilard, t. v. p. 79. 
 
214 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. pQgg himself to a recurrence of petty oppres- 
 
 1— sions, in a country where he might possibly 
 
 be less able to withstand them. He therefore 
 positively decUned Francis's offer, alleging as a 
 reason, that his duty to the young king of Spain, 
 from whom he then received a pension^ pre- 
 cluded him from engaging in the service of any- 
 other monarch. Budee, however^ persisted in 
 his endeavours to effect the king's munificent 
 designs, undeterred by the cold sneers of the 
 courtiers, or by the more formidable opposition 
 of the bigotted churchmen, who fancied they 
 saw heresy in every attempt to relieve the hu- 
 man mind from the weakness and degradation 
 into which ignorance had plunged it. 
 Francis's Fraiicis ill tlic mean time did all that his in- 
 privatehe. fl^g^^(.g ^^^ l^jg cxamplc could effect in the fur- 
 therance of his design. The avocations of a 
 monarch, even of one who is not as much ad- 
 dicted to pleasure as was Francis^ do not afford 
 much opportunity for study, which to be effec- 
 tualj must be regular and unremitting ; but he 
 manifested on all occasions^ an admiration and 
 respect for learning, and an insatiable thirst for 
 knowledge. The unanimous testimony of his 
 cotemporaries proves that in all his enjoyments, 
 intellectual pleasures held the first place, (a) 
 
 (a) " Nulla illi unquam ccena, nullum prantlium, nulla 
 statio aut ambulatio sine colloquiis el disputationibus littera- 
 riis peracta est : ut quicumque mensam ejus frequentarent 
 .... doctissimi et diligentissimi philosophi scholam frequen- 
 tare arbitrarentur." — Petr. Galland. Orat. Funeb. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 
 
 He was accompanied in all his excursions by 
 men of learning, whose society gratified him, - 
 and whose conversation atforded him informa- 
 tion, (rt) 
 
 This part of Francis's conduct is so creditable 
 to hiin^ that the contemplation of it may be dwelt 
 upon with pleasure. The laurels he had ga- 
 thered at Marignan^ flourished the more freshly 
 for the noble uses to which he devoted some of 
 his peaceful moments ; and it had been happy 
 for him and for his people, if such pursuits had 
 occupied a greater portion of his thoughts. Still 
 
 (a) Thomas Herbert, secretary of the elector palatine Fre- 
 deric II., in describing the entertainments of the king of 
 France, speaks of them in terms of high eulogium, and says, 
 that nothing in the course of his travels (and he had been in 
 many countries of Europe) had struck him so forcibly as the 
 table of Francis the First ; and that among the learned men 
 whom he heard converse there, he had derived greater plea- 
 sure and profit from none more than from Francis himself. 
 Brantome describes these conversations in his own peculiar 
 way : *' Or, entre autres belles vertus que le roy eut, c'est 
 qu'il fut fort grand amateur des lettres et gens savans, et des 
 plus grands de son royaume, lesquels il entretenoit tousjours 
 de discours tres-grands et s^avans, leur en baillant la plus- 
 part du temps les sujets et les themes. Et y estoit re^eu qui 
 venoit ; mais, il ne faloit pas qu'il fut asne ny qu'il bronchast ; 
 car, il estoit bien-tost releve de luy-mesme, Sur-tout il 
 avoit Monsieur Chastellanus, tres-docte personnage, sur qui 
 le roy se rapportoit par-dessus tous les autres, quand il y 
 alloit de quelque point difficile. De telle fa^on que la table 
 du roy estoit une vraye escole ; car, la il s'y traitoit de 
 toutes matieres, autant de la guerre, (car il y avoit tousjours 
 de grands capitaines, qui en s^avoient tres-bien discourir 
 avec luy, et ramentevoir tousjours les combats et guerres 
 passes,) que des sciences hautes et basses." — t. vi. p. 281). 
 
 215 
 
 CHAP. 
 IV. 
 
2l6 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, tjjgy ^j.g enough to have secured for him a repu- 
 ' tatioii which Charles, his envious and too suc- 
 cessful rival in other things, could not dispute 
 with him, and to have justly entitled him to the 
 appellation which posterity has given him, of he 
 Father of Letters in his own country. 
 The Par- Fi'ancis found, shortly after his return to Paris, 
 flfsTsTo IT. that the compact he had entered into with the 
 cotfcordat. Popc for thc aboUtiou of the Pragmatic Sanction 
 was in the highest degree unpalatable to the peo- 
 ple. The parliament of Paris, venal as it often 
 was in the administration of justice between 
 individuals, firmly opposed a measure which, 
 they truly contended, was dangerous and inex- 
 pedient, and which destroyed the utility and in- 
 dependence of the clergy. They maintained that, 
 under the system of elections to benefices, which 
 the Pragmatic Sanction had established, the 
 merit and capacity of the candidates were their 
 most effectual recommendations ; but that when 
 the power of nominating to them should be 
 vested in the king alone they might be open to 
 disgraceful and injurious com't intrigues ; that 
 the motives which churchmen had now to stu- 
 dious habits, to regularity of demeanour, to vir- 
 tue and integrity, would be weakened, or de- 
 stroyed, and that the church of France would 
 become as licentious and as profligate as that of 
 Ital V. There was so much obvious weiofht in these 
 objections that it was impossible to pass them 
 over; and those who supported them met the 
 more specious arguments of their opponents by 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 
 
 217 
 
 insistiiiff that the litio^atioii which ensued in conse- chap. 
 quence of appeals to Rome respecting the elec- ' 
 
 tionSj and the expense consequent upon such pro- 
 ceeding's, wouldj although they admitted thein to 
 be great evils^ be incomparably less troublesome 
 and injurious than those which must result from 
 the Concordat. 
 
 The bishop of Tricarico^ the Pope's nuncio, 
 arrived in Paris while these objections were 
 being loudly urged, and brought the king 
 two papers under the leaden apostolic seal^ 
 the one of which contained the Concordat, which 
 had been ratified by the council^ and the other 
 the revocation of the Pragmatic Sanction, both 
 of which he required to be registered by the 
 parliament of Paris^ in confirmation of the 
 kino's eno;ao:ement. 
 
 Francis, who had perceived, not without un- Francis in- 
 easiness, the opposition, which had been set on compliance 
 
 ■*■ of the Par- 
 
 foot in Prance to this measure, thought it pru- liament. 
 
 dent not to press the revocation of the Pragmatic 
 Sanction^ but he went in person to the parlia- 
 ment for the purpose of having the Concordat 
 registered. Several bishops^ the chapter of the 
 cathedral of Notre Dame^ and the principals of 
 tlie university, were there also present. The chan- 
 cellor Du Prat opened the business by a long 
 and able speech^ in which he represented the 
 Pragmatic Sanction as the sole cause of all the 
 disagreements which had subsisted during the 
 late reigns betw een the See of Rome and the king- 
 dom of France, and which had produced results 
 
218 
 
 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 IV. 
 
 The dis- 
 putes 
 which en- 
 sued be- 
 tween the 
 king and 
 the parlia- 
 ment. 
 
 SO fatal and so troublesome to France. He then 
 explained the provisions of the Concordat, which 
 he assured them the king had only been in- 
 duced to enter into through an earnest desire of 
 preserving the kingdom from a recurrence of 
 those disagreements, injurious alike to the tem- 
 poral and eternal interests of his people, and at 
 the same time to secure to them all the ad- 
 vantages which they really derived from the 
 Pragmatic Sanction. 
 
 The parliament retired for the purpose of de- 
 liberating on the proposition which had been 
 made to them. The cardinal de Boisy, speaking 
 in the name of the ecclesiastics then present, said 
 the matter was one tliat concerned the whole 
 Gallican church, which it ought therefore to be 
 convened, before any steps were taken towards 
 confirming: the Concordat. Francis^ who was too 
 little used to contradiction to brook it readily, re- 
 plied with some anger, that it was his will the Con- 
 cordat should be registered, and that if the clergy 
 disputed it, he would send them to the Pope, 
 to dispute the matter with him. The president 
 of the parliament said, in reply to the chancellor, 
 that they would deliberate the matter, and would 
 demean themselves so as to discharge their duty 
 towards God and the king. 
 
 Francis, who was not satisfied with this tem- 
 perate answer, ordered letters patent to be pre- 
 pared, giving effect to the Concordat, and call- 
 ing upon all the judges of the land to see to its 
 execution, and sent a commission, consisting 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 219 
 
 of the constable, Jean d'Albret, seiijneur tPOrval, chap. 
 
 and the chancellor, with a request that the par- '. — 
 
 liament would forthwith register them. The 
 parliament replied by their president, that they 
 would deliberate and take the advice of their 
 council. About a month afterwards the advo- 
 cate-general, Le Lievre^ stated at length his 
 objections to the Concordat on constitutional 
 grounds, and applied for a committee^ consist- 
 ing' of lawyers^ to consider it. This committee 
 was appointed, but Francis persisted in having 
 the Concordat registered ; and on the 26th of 
 June, the Bastard of Savoy presented to the 
 parliament a request from Francis so urgent 
 that it amounted to a demand to that effect. The 
 parliament sent their president to remonstrate 
 with the king, that his uncle^ for by that title the 
 Bastard was then recognized in France, was no 
 member of their body, and that it waste infringe 
 their privileges to send him among them. Fran- 
 cis, in great anger, replied, that he knew there 
 were two sorts of persons in the parliament, one 
 who wished him and the state well, and the other 
 who loved nothing so much as cabal ; that he 
 w ould make the latter fear, if they did not love, 
 him ; and with some threats, which meant little, 
 he insisted on their deliberating, since delibe- 
 rate they would, in the presence of his uncle. 
 , To disobey this command was impossible, 
 and, however reluctantly, the parliament dis- 
 cussed the measure in the presence of the lord 
 of Savoy. After eleven days sitting, they came 
 
220 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. ^Q ^jjg conclusion that thev could not register 
 IV. . " . . • 
 
 '- — the Concordat, because its provisions were at vari- 
 ance with the Pragmatic Sanction, which they 
 were obliged to observe. They added that they 
 should recognise the right of the university of 
 Paris to appeal to them against any violation of 
 that law ; and that if the king was determined 
 to abolish it, he could not do so until he had 
 called an assembly of the Gallican churchy and 
 obtained their sanction^ because it was by them 
 that it had first been established. 
 
 The king, who took this resolution to be, as 
 it was, in direct opposition to his authority^ 
 ordered the parliament to send him a deputa- 
 tion from their body for the purpose of ex- 
 plaining to him the grounds on which they had 
 formed it. Their deputies followed him to 
 Amboise^ where the court then was. They were 
 treated with great indignity j, kept a long time 
 without an audience^ and when they obtained it, 
 Francis evinced his anger against tliem in the most 
 unceremonious terms. He said he had seen their 
 objections, and the answers which his chancellor 
 had made to them, and that he considered the 
 latter quite satisfactory. The deputies humbly 
 requested to see these answers. Francis replied 
 with asperity^ that they should not ; reminded 
 them that it was not an affair of a proces-verbal, 
 and added. " I will let vou know that I am 
 king in France, and that I will have no senate 
 like that of Venice^ to curb my power here. 
 The duties of the parliament are simply to ad- 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 221 
 
 minister justice ; and it shall be my duty to see <^"ap. 
 
 that they do not thwart, in France, the measures '- — 
 
 I have taken in Italy, to secure the welfare and 
 peace of the country/^ 
 
 The deputies were dismissed with most un- The con- 
 
 . .| I II* 1 1 • • cordat is 
 
 Civil haste ; the king repeated his instances to registered 
 the parliament to have tlie Concordat registered, kings 
 and at length they complied, not however with- Sse- 
 out inserting in their register a notification that consents! 
 it had been at the absolute and often repeated 
 command of the king, and at the same time 
 they made a formal protest that it was done 
 without their sanction and ag-ainst their will. 
 The university of Paris complained of it to the 
 parliament ; but of course without effect. From 
 the professors' chairs, and from the pulpits, the 
 most angry and unrestricted censures of the 
 king and the court were pronounced ; and these 
 at length became so scandalous, and the popular 
 discontent was so powerfully excited, that Fran- 
 cis found it necessary to pass an edict reprehend- 
 ing the conduct of the members of the univer- 
 sity^ and forbidding them to discuss this or any 
 other affair which had received the king's sanc- 
 tion, under pain of suppression and depriva- 
 tion of all their privileges. The Concordat be- 
 came, by these violent measures, a part of the 
 law ; but constant attempts were made to evade 
 it, which the courts of justice seconded so power- 
 fully, that Francis found he had incurred great 
 public odium without even gaining the benefit 
 he had proposed to himself. 
 
222 
 
 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 IV. 
 
 Troubles 
 at Milan. 
 
 Trivulzio 
 is disgrac- 
 ed by 
 means of 
 Lautrec. 
 
 The afFairs of his Italian dominions had now 
 too fallen into such disorder as to require 
 prompt and careful attention. The countess de 
 Chateaubriant's brother, the marshal Lautrec^ 
 had so conducted himself in the administration 
 of the government of Milan, which she had 
 procured for him^ as to fill the country with 
 discontent and dissension, and to increase the 
 natural dislike which the people of the Mi- 
 lanese felt for the French nation ; but it was 
 his behaviour to the marshal Trivulzio that 
 rendered him the most unpopular. That ve- 
 teran general,, who was descended from one of 
 the first families in Lombardv, had been in- 
 duced to join the French army of Charles VIII., 
 for the purpose of ridding the country of the 
 tyrannous Ludovico Sforza. His fidelity to the 
 cause he had pledged himself to support, had 
 never been questioned, while his valour and 
 skill had been proved in all the battles that had 
 since taken place. He had formerly held the 
 government of Milan, and universally enjoyed 
 the respect and affection of the people. This 
 well earned popularity^ and his great wealthy 
 which enabled him to live in a masrnificent 
 style^ excited the envy of Lautrec, who, in his 
 letters to the court, designated him as the head 
 of a faction opposed to the authority of France, 
 which, if it were not put down^ might endanger 
 the government. The pernicious influence of 
 the countess de Chateaubriant gave all the 
 weight which the writer intended they should 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 
 
 223 
 
 have to these malicious slanders, and the news ^ " ^ p- 
 
 IV 
 
 of the king's displeasure soon reached the ag'ed ' 
 
 marshal. That prompt fire which had so often 
 led less daring spirits to victory, was not extin- 
 guished in him. His honour was wounded ; 
 and, at the age of eighty years, in the midst of a 
 rigorous winter, he posted across the frozen 
 Alps to vindicate himself from the unmerited 
 imputation which had been cast upon him by 
 
 - . . ^,,, , •11 1 Arrives in 
 
 his enemies. When he arrived at the court he Paris. 
 solicited an interview with the king, but this re- 
 quest being refused, he had himself carried in 
 a chair, his infirmities rendering him incapable of 
 any other exertion, to a spot which he knew 
 the king must pass by in his way to mass. As 
 Francis approached, the veteran cried, ^' Sire, 
 a man who has risked his life for you and 
 your ancestors, in eighteen pitched battles, 
 craves one moment^s audience.^' Francis looked 
 at him, and recognised the venerable hero ; 
 but had the cruelty to pass onward without 
 vouchsafing a reply. This w as more than the 
 disappointed soldier could bear, he was carried 
 home and put to bed, which he never quitted 
 alive. Francis, whose disposition was not cruel, 
 but whose mind had been poisoned by the 
 industrious calumnies of Lautrec and his sister, 
 could not endure the reflection of the inhuma- 
 nity with which he had treated so faithful an 
 adherent, and so noble a warrior, and when he 
 heard of the marshaPs illness, he sent to him for 
 the purpose of excusing his conduct. " I am Heatu. 
 
224 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 IV. 
 
 very sensible of the king's goodness/' replied 
 the dying marshal, " but i have felt his severit) (a) 
 no less acutely. It is too late now." He died 
 almost immediately afterwards, leaving to Fran- 
 cis the bitter regret of having sacriticed one of 
 his best subjects to the intrigues of a profligate 
 courtesan, and to the ambition of a man who 
 envied the virtues which he could not emulate. 
 
 Tlie news of Trivulzio's death completed the 
 unfavourable impression which Lautrec had 
 made upon the people he governed. The ap- 
 pointment of his brotlier, Lescun, to the dignity 
 of marshal, which Trivulzio had held, increased 
 their disgust, and laid the foundation for those 
 
 (a) Brantome gives an account of his death, which, if it 
 be true, would induce the behef that the old man's intellects 
 were unsettled. He says that Trivulzio, having- been told by 
 some philosophers, that the foul fiends have a horror of 
 naked swords, and flee in great terror when they see thein 
 brandished and glittering in the air ; and that, therefore, 
 when he knew he was about to die he had his sword laid be- 
 side him on the bed, and used the handle of it instead of a 
 cross. — " Afin que cependant qu'elle renvoyeroit les diables, 
 luy voyans ainsi en la main, et ayans peur, ils ne s'approch- 
 assent de luy pour luy enlever et emporter son ame avec eux ; 
 et, par ainsi, que ne s'osans approcher de luy, elle eust loisir 
 de s'eschapper et passer par la porte de derriere, et s'envoler 
 visite en paradis." And he adds, " I'invention et la ruse 
 n'en eust pas est^ mauvaise, s'il eust peu tromper de cette 
 fa^on ces messieurs les diables, qui se meslent de tromper 
 les pauvres humains." — t, v. p. 253. Trivulzio's corpse was 
 taken after his death to Milan, in pursuance of his last wishes, 
 and an inscription placed upon his tomb, which well enough 
 described the restless course of his past life — 
 
 '' Hie quiescit, qui nunquam quievit." 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 225 
 
 ilislurbances wliicli aftorwards broke out in the chap. 
 
 IV. 
 
 Milanese^ and caused so ruinous a series of dis- 
 appointments — so indelible a disgrace to France. 
 
 Francis's most formidable enemy, as it now Prands so- 
 appeared^ was Henry VIII., who was not only in Sciship 
 possession of the strong frontier town of Tournay, vni!"'^^ 
 but whose supposed inclination for war made 
 him a dangerous neighbour. The French king, 
 determined^ if possible, to gain his alliance, with 
 a view of ultimately obtaining possession of 
 Tournay ; and for this purpose addressed him- 
 self to cardinal AVolsey, whose influence had 
 long been seen to be paramount in England, 
 and upon whose vanity and avarice he worked 
 by expressions of respect and esteem, and by 
 the more substantial inducements of large 
 bribes. Wolsey exchanged his troublesome 
 and unproductive bishoprick of Tournay for a 
 pension of 12,000 livres,(a) which Francis grant- 
 ed him ; and in return for this niuniticence the 
 Cardinal so ingeniously and effectually prepared 
 Henry's mind for the proposition which the 
 French king was about to make to him, that 
 before the ambassadors from France arrived at 
 the English court the negociation might be said 
 to be in a forward state. 
 
 Francis had entrusted this couimission to Bonnivefs 
 Bonnivet, the companion of his childhood, for EngS.*^ 
 whom he had alwavs entertained a strong* affec- 
 tion, and on whom he had recently conferred the 
 office of admiral of France. Gouffier de Boisy, 
 
 (a) Fiddes's Wolsey, Co!'. No. 31, B. II. 
 VOL. I. Q 
 
CHAP. 
 IV. 
 
 22(> THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 and Estieniie de Ponclier, bishop of Paris, were 
 associated with him ; and although it is more than 
 probable that the success of the negociation was 
 properly to be attributed to them, the more daz- 
 zling qualities ofBonnivet, and the king's favour, 
 gained for him all the reputation that was attach- 
 ed to it. This embassy arrived in England on 
 the last day of September, (1518) with a retinue^ 
 the splendour and extent of which appears to 
 have excited more surprise than admiration. It 
 was not thought consistent with diplomatic de- 
 corum that the true object of the mission should 
 be avowed, and therefore the first proposition 
 was for a general league of all Christian princes 
 against the Turk, of which the Pope had been 
 the projector; and the honour of putting it into 
 practice Francis offered to share with the king 
 of England^ reserving an opportunity for other 
 potentates afterwards to concur in it. This being 
 Terms of agTccd to^ the other and more important part 
 e rea y. ^^ ^^^^ negociatiou was entered upon, by which 
 
 Francis stipulated that his son, then a few 
 months old, should marry the princess Mary, 
 the daughter of Henry, with whom the latter 
 monarch promised to give a dowry of 333,000 
 crowns. The restoration of Tournay, Mor- 
 taigne, and Saint Amand, formed a separate 
 article of the treaty, and these Henry -proposed 
 to deliver on being reimbursed 600,000 crowns, 
 (subject to the deduction of the princess's dowry,) 
 for payment of which, as the money was not 
 immediately at hand, Francis offered hostages. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 
 
 The ceremony of befrothing' on the part of the 
 princess was performed in St. Paul's Cathedral ; 
 and the earl of AVorcestei% accompanied by the 
 bishop of Ely, with such a train as matched 
 that of the French ambassador, w ent to Paris 
 to witness a corresponding ceremony, which 
 Francis performed on the part of his son, to re- 
 ceive the hostages (a) and to deliver up pos- 
 session of Tournay pursuant to the treaty. (^) 
 
 [a] They were eight in number, all of noble families, and 
 appear to have been the lords de Morette, de Mouy, de 
 la Meilleraye, de Montpezat, de Melim, de Mortemart, de 
 Grimault, de Montmoreuci, de la Rochepot, and de Hu- 
 gueville. 
 
 [h) This measure was extremely unpopular in England, 
 The earl of Worcester, who had been at the taking of Tour- 
 nay, executed his commission with evident reluctance, and 
 the inconvenience which it occasioned to such of the English 
 as had taken up their abode there, may be easily imagined. 
 Hall's description of this matter is very striking. After 
 stating the refusal of the earl to give up the city until the 
 lord Chatillon's commission to receive it was delivered to 
 him, together with a sealed indenture, acknowledging that 
 he received the city as a gift, and not as a right, a stipula- 
 tion at which the French officers were extremely indignant, 
 he proceeds : " The French captaynes perceavyng that yf 
 they disagreed at the daye, that doubtes might foilowe, 
 wherfore they sent their commission, and sealed their in- 
 denture, and sent it likewyse in the mornyng, and came 
 forward with their banners displayed. Whereof hearing the 
 earle, he sent woorde that the citee was neither yelded nor 
 gotten, but delyvered for confederacyon of mariage, and 
 therfore they j/.iould not entre with banners displayed. 
 Then wer the Frenchemen angry, but ther was no remedy 
 but to rolle up their staunderds and banners. And when 
 thei came to the gates there their commission and indenture 
 
 Q 2 
 
 227 
 
 CHAP. 
 IV. 
 
228- 
 
 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 IV. 
 
 Francis restored Tournay, and Therouanne, 
 which had been destroyed by the Enghsh in 
 Cession of 1513, to their former condition, while he still 
 
 lournay. ' 
 
 endeavoured to keep up the good feeling with 
 which he beheved he had inspired Henry and 
 his minister, and by means of which he hoped 
 one day effectually to protect his realm against 
 attacks from England, by obtaining the restitu- 
 tion of Calais. In the meantime^ and in fur- 
 therance of another part of the same plan, he 
 occupied himself with strengthening the forti- 
 fications of Havre de Grace. 
 
 His success, the perfect tranquillity of his 
 r... r. o^^n country, the alliances he had formed with 
 
 The Pope - ^ 
 
 proposes a tho most potcut of tlic Europcaii states, and par- 
 crusade, ^ ^ _ . * . 
 
 which 
 
 Francis * 
 
 deitakes wliich he was held. His warlike talents had 
 
 crusade, . ^ , ^ ... 
 
 which ticularly the last, increased the estimation in 
 
 un 
 to lead 
 
 never been questioned, but he had now shewn 
 that as a statesman he was not less worthy of the 
 distinguished rank he held. The Pope pro- 
 posed to him a war against Selim, the emperor 
 of the Turks, whose rapid success had made 
 him a most formidable neighbour. The cardi- 
 nal Bibiena represented with much eloquence, 
 
 were solemply red openly ; and then the Frenchmen entred 
 with drums and minstrelsy, without any banner : and then 
 to Monsire Castileoii was delivered the castle, and there he 
 ordeined watche and warde in every parte. Thus was the 
 citee of Turnay delivered the eight daye of Februarye in the 
 X yere of the reigne of the king, and many a tall tjoman 
 that lacked livying fel to robijng, which would not labor 
 after their return^ — Hall, f. G7. 
 
229 
 
 CHAP. 
 IV. 
 
 OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 
 
 and with little exaggeration, the power which 
 the Turk had recently gained, the naval force 
 which he was equipping on the coast opposite 
 to OtrantOj and the peril to which Germany or 
 Italy would be exposed if the Moslem should 
 turn his savage troops^ flushed as they were 
 with victory^ upon countries which offered them 
 a rich and an easy prey. To a spirit like that 
 of Francis, such a representation could not be 
 addressed in vain. His enthusiasm was fired ; 
 his people shared the excitement ; the prayers 
 and the contributions of the devout were readily 
 offered, the ardent and w arlike youth of France 
 volunteered to join the army, and Francis un- 
 dertook to lead in person a large force upon 
 this new crusade, which w ould have been dis- 
 tinguished from all that had preceded it^ in 
 being undertaken for the protection^ if not for 
 the defence, of Europe Before however any Thedeatb 
 
 11-, 1 r 1 • ofSelim 
 
 serious preparations had been made tor tins en- stops the 
 terprise, Selim died, and the terror being at an ^msadL 
 end, all thoughts of the crusade were for the 
 present dropped. 
 
 An expedition^ which was directed in pursu- Disastrous 
 ance of the treaty between France and Den- to Dei-"" 
 markj against Sw eden^ with w hich country the ^^'^' 
 French ally was engaged in an unjust war, met 
 with as disastrous a termination as it deserved. 
 The Swedes had made a desperate attempt to 
 shake off the yoke of Christiern II. whose 
 cruelty and despotism had made any evil pre- 
 ferable to a further continuance of it. The aid 
 
230 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, ^vhich Francis furnished to Christiern consisted 
 
 IV 
 
 . '. of 2^000 foot^ under the command of the prince 
 
 de Fouquarmont and other captains of great ex- 
 perience and known valour. At first they drove 
 the Swedes before them ; but the rigours of the 
 climate^ to which the French troops were wholly 
 unaccustomed, the pertinacious resistance of the 
 hardy people who were opposed to them^ and 
 the treachery of the Danes, frustrated their 
 efforts. In an engagement which took place on 
 a frozen lake^ they w ere cut to pieces, and of 
 their whole force less than 300 returned to 
 France^ all of whom were in a state of utter 
 misery, (a) 
 Charles The coiiduct of tlic youiig Spanish monarch 
 
 endeavours ..i- •! J^i'l i:*T^ • i 
 
 to procure at this pcriod roused the jealousy ot rrancis^ and 
 titure 0? gave some indication of the ambitious projects 
 arTd to be which lic aftcrwards executed, by an attempt to 
 k^ngo^he unite the Neapolitan crown with his own^ and to 
 prepare the way for the assumption at some fu- 
 ture day of the imperial dignity. He applied to 
 Leo for a grant of the investiture of Naples^ of 
 which the pontiff claimed to be the feudal sove- 
 reign, and at the same time prayed to be recog- 
 nised as king of the Romans. Leo communi- 
 cated these requests to Francis, who vehemently 
 objected against their being complied with, and 
 the Pope, for the present, evaded the difficulty of 
 a direct refusal, by representing that Maximilian, 
 through whom Charles claimed, had never yet 
 
 (a) Du Bellay, 1. i. 
 
 Romans 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 231 
 
 been crowned emperor, and that it would he 
 contrary to the Germanic constitution, to recoix- 
 nise, as king of the Romans, the presumptive 
 heir of a monarchy whose title to the empire was 
 yet incomplete. Maximilian had been for some 
 years endeavouring to raise money both from 
 Francis and Henry VIII. by an offer to surren- 
 der what he called his claims on Italy, and \\ hich 
 consisted of nothing less than a design he had 
 formed for reducing all the states of Germany 
 and Italy under one dominion ; but finding that 
 his offers had been treated w ith no more serious- 
 ness than they deserved, he was now ready to 
 favour his grandson's views. He expressed his 
 readiness to receive the imperial crown, and 
 joined Charles in soliciting the Pope to send it 
 to him at Viennaj by the hands of a nuncio. 
 The Pope, however, unequivocally declined to 
 comply with this request, on the ground that it 
 was contrary to custom^ and would be inconsis- 
 tent with the dignity of the holy see. He at the 
 same time inyited the emperor to Rome^ having 
 first ascertained that Francis would oppose his 
 progress if he ventured to enter Italy in arms, 
 and to come without the escort of an army he 
 knew would have been too hazardous a step, (a) 
 Instigated by Charles, who pursued his scheme 
 with a pertinacity that nothing could check, 
 Maximilian did, however, prepare for a journey 
 to Rome^ and intimated his intention to the 
 
 (a) Lettere di Princlpi, t. i. p. 56. Roscoe's Leo X.j 
 vol. iii. p. 379. 
 
 C H A P. 
 
 IV. 
 
232 
 
 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 Death of 
 Maximi- 
 
 lian, 
 
 His cha- 
 racter. 
 
 CHAP. Pope^ who was relieved from the embarrassment 
 
 '. — which such a visit must have occasioned by the 
 
 death of the emperor, which took place at Lintz, 
 in Austria, on the 15th of January, 1519, some- 
 what suddenly, and, as it ^vas said, in conse- 
 quence of a medicine having been administered 
 to him by mistake. 
 
 The character of Maximilian was so full of 
 weaknesses and contradictions that some doubts 
 may be reasonably entertained of the soundness 
 of his intellect. There was however nothing 
 odious or cruel in his conduct; he had an in- 
 vincible animosity against the French nation, 
 which his frequent want of money alone in- 
 duced him to forego. The circumstance the 
 most honourable to his memory is the perse- 
 vering energy and success with which he extir- 
 pated the dangerous and unjust system of the 
 secret tribunals which had before his time ex- 
 isted without check in Germany, and which 
 exercised, with frightful and mysterious des- 
 potism, a power beyond the laws. He was a 
 lover, and, to some extent, an encourager of 
 the fine arts. His spare time. Lord Herbert 
 says, he employed in poetry, and wrote the 
 history of his life in Dutch verse, (a) At one 
 
 [a) This statement is not quite correct. The circum- 
 stances to which it refers are explained by Mr. Roscoe. *' The 
 life and achievements of Maximilian have been ostenta- 
 tiously represented in a series of engravings, designed under 
 his own inspection by Hans Burgmair, and executed in 
 wood by the best artists of the time. They are accom- 
 panied by descriptions, dictated by Maximilian himself to 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 233 
 
 time he is believed to have entertained serious chap. 
 
 thouo-hts of offerins: himself as a candidate for '. — 
 
 the popedom, and it was upon this occasion that 
 he ^^ rote in exquisitely bad French, and with a 
 humour which its gravity makes perfectly ir- 
 resistible, a very curious letter to his daughter, 
 the lady regent of the Low Countries, {a) His 
 
 his secretary, Mark Trietzaurwein. The various employ- 
 ments of Maximilian, his marriages, his battles, and his 
 treaties, are exhibited in a greater number of prints than 
 would have sufficed for the labours of Hercules, or the con- 
 quests of Alexander the Great ; but his hunters, his hawkers, 
 his tournaments, and his buffoons, occupy the principal part 
 of the work. This collection he denominates his triumph. 
 '' Ce triumphe a ete a la louange e la memoire eternelle des 
 plaisirs nobles et des victoires glorieuses du serenissime et 
 tres illustre prince et seigneur Maximilien, elu empereur Re- 
 main et chef de la Chretienne, roi et heretier de sept roy- 
 aumes Chretiens, archiduc d'Autriche, due de Bourgogne, et 
 d'autres grand principautes et provinces de I'Europe, Sec." 
 The original blocks, or engravings in wood, have only been 
 of late years discovered, and the work was published in 
 1796, in large folio. 
 
 (a) The following is the letter : " Tres chere et tres amee 
 fille, je eutendu I'avis que vous m'avez donne par Guillain 
 Pingun notre garde-robbe ayees, dont nous avons encore 
 pense dessus, et ne trouvons point pour nulle r^sun bon, que 
 nous nous devons franchement marier, mais avons plus avant 
 mis notre deliberation et volonte de jamais plus banter faem 
 nue ; et envoyons demain M. de Gurec, eveque a Rome de- 
 vant le Pape, pour trouver fachon que nous puyssun accor- 
 der avec ly de nous prendre pour ung coadjuteur, afin 
 qu'apres sa mort pouvvons estre asseure de avoer le papat, 
 et devenir Prestre, et apres estre Saint ; etque yl vous sera 
 de n^cessit^, que apres ma mort vous serez contraint de me 
 adorer, dont je me trouverai bien glorifioes. . . ,Je commence 
 u pratiquer les cardinaux dont iic. ou iiic. mille ducas me 
 
234 THE LIFE AND TIMES^ &C. 
 
 CHAP, notions on this subject, and the manner ui 
 — which he proposed to carry them into exe- 
 cution, justify what Julius II. said respecting- 
 him ; that the cardinals and the electors had 
 made mutual mistakes; for that the conclave 
 should have made Maximilian Pope, and the 
 electors should have chosen him (Julius) to be 
 their emperor. 
 
 Maximilian might at any time have been 
 withdrawn from the great political theatre of 
 Europe, without his personal loss being much 
 felt; but the contest which the election to the 
 imperial dignity, vacant by his death, occasion- 
 ed, was the beginning of a series of events that 
 gave the tone and character to the ensuing 
 age. 
 
 feront un grand service, avec la partialite qui est deja antra 
 eos. . . .Je vous prie, tenez cette matiere en secret ; aussi 
 bien en briefs jours, je crains que y faut que tout le nionde 
 le sacbe, car bien mal est il possible de pratiquer ung tel si 
 grand matere secrettement, pour la quelle il faut avoer de 
 tant de gens, et de argent, succurs, pratique : at a Dieu. 
 Fact de la main de votre bon pere, Maximilianus futur 
 Pape, le xviii. jour de Septembre." 
 
CHAP. V. 
 
 Competition for the Empire — The pretensions of Henry 
 VIII, — Of Charles — And of Francis — Proceedings 
 of the several Claimants — Francis quarrels tvith 
 Robert de la Mark, who thereupon favours Charles 
 — The adventurer Sichinghen, his character — Being 
 distrusted by Francis, he quarrels icith him, and 
 espouses the party of Charles — Charles exerts him- 
 self' siiccessfully to gain friends — Diet rf Frankfort 
 — Charles is elected Emperor — Birth of Francis^ 
 second son — Henry VIII. is godfather — Proposals 
 for a meeting between Francis and Henry — The 
 emperor visits England — The meeting between the 
 kings of France and England at the Field of Cloth 
 of Gold — Francis and Charles agree to leave to 
 Henry the settlement of their differences — Accident 
 which befals Francis — The rise of the Reformation 
 in Germany — Sale of Indulgences — Luther preaches 
 and writes against them — Controversies on the sub- 
 ject — Luther summoned to Augsburg — Defends his 
 propositions before the Papal J^uncio — Disputes 
 with Eccius — The emperor summons Luther to the 
 Diet at Worms — His appearance and conduct there 
 — Is condemned by the emperor, and put under ban 
 — He refuses to retract — Returns to Wittemberg — 
 On his journey he is seized, by order of the elector of 
 Saxony, and conveyedfor safety to the Warteburg — 
 He writes in favour of the Reformation — Translates 
 and publishes the New Testament, 
 
237 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The death of Maximilian, by leaving vacant j-jg 
 the dignity of emperor, opened a wide field to J^oJI'foVthe 
 the ambition of the various European potentates, empire. 
 While there was no positive principle upon 
 which the pretensions of any of them could be 
 excluded^ the power and authority of which, in 
 able hands, this title might be made the source^ 
 were sufficient to rouse the aspiring hopes of 
 every independent sovereign. It w^as soon hoAV- 
 ever, apparent that the competition would be be- 
 tween the kings of England^ Spain, and France, 
 
 Henrv had been solicited by Maximilian, in t,, 
 his lifetime^ to accede to the dignity (a) which J^"^'onsof 
 the emperor affected to be willing to resign ; but vui. 
 he had wisely distrusted the offer; and although 
 there is some reason to believe that he would 
 afterwards have willingly changed that determina- 
 tion, (^) his influence on the continent was so in- 
 
 (a) This offer is contained in a letter of the 17lh of May, 
 1516, by Sir Richard Wing-field, ambassador from Henry 
 VIII. to the emperor, in which Maximilian is stated to have 
 suggested a plan, by which Henry might make himself mas- 
 ter of Milan, " where," says the emperor, ** when he hath 
 tarried a season, I will in his company pass to Rome, where 
 he shall be crowned emperor." — Fiddes's Wolsey, p. 123. 
 
 (6) When Pace announced Henry's pretensions, the eccle- 
 siastical electors told him, that if they had been earlier pur- 
 sued, he might have been elected, but that now they were 
 pre-engaged. — Turner's Henry VI 11., vol. i. p. 209. 
 
238 
 
 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 V. 
 
 considerable, (notwithstanding the indefatigable 
 intrigues of Wolsey's master mind,) that there 
 was little probability of his engaging the votes 
 
 Of Charles, of any of the electors. Charles's natural affi- 
 nity to the late emperor appeared to stand him 
 in little stead, for, the title being elective, here- 
 ditary pretensions, however direct, could not be 
 brought to apply to it. The obscurity of his 
 education, and the habits of his life, since his 
 accession to the throne of Spain, had not been 
 calculated to excite much of the attention of the 
 electors, to whom, but for the attempts w hich 
 Maximilian had made to have him crow ned, he 
 would have been wholly unknown. In war he 
 was a perfect novice ; and in such political 
 treaties as he had hitherto made w ith other Eu- 
 ropean pow ers, he had shewn himself to be 
 rather actuated by a desire to provide for his 
 own security, than to extend his power. He 
 was the possessor of extensive dominions, but 
 France lay bet^^ een Spain and the Low Countries ; 
 and his quiet possession of either branch of his 
 empire, appeared to depend upon the duration of 
 his amity with the French king, while the seeds 
 of revolt seemed to be sow n in Spain, and both 
 Naples and Navarre might turn out fruitful sub- 
 
 andof jects of contention. Francis, on the other hand, 
 had long aspired to the title of emperor, and 
 had taken little pains to conceal his designs. 
 It was for their accomplishment that he had 
 forborne to visit upon the Pope, w hose influence 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 239 
 
 he foresaw might one clay be serviceable to ^"^p- 
 him, tlje piinishinent which the Pontifi''s re- — ^ — 
 peated perfidies, and uniform want of sincerity 
 had provoked ; and the same reasons had in- 
 duced him to cultivate, whenever the opportu- 
 nity had offered, the good will of the electors, a 
 majority of whom had promised him their votes. 
 His personal pretensions too, were of no incon- 
 siderable description. He had been on the 
 throne of France for more than four years, du- 
 ring which period all his undertakings had been 
 successful. The dazzling splendour of his vic- 
 tories yet influenced the public mind, his munifi- 
 cence, his encouragement of science and arts, his 
 mild and paternal government, his chivalrous 
 spirit, his graceful and affable demeanonr, had 
 '' bought golden opinions from all kinds of 
 men,'^ and had procured him a reputation for 
 greater virtues than he possessed, while those 
 defects in his character, which forced themselves 
 upon the general observation, were extenuated 
 on the score of his youth, or forgotten because 
 of that avowed licentiousness which, in the 
 higher classes at least, was then too common 
 to excite very severe reprobation. 
 
 It was not without reason therefore, that Fran- The pre- 
 cis believed he should triumph over Charles, who thecaS** 
 was his only real competitor ; and that he express- ^ ^^^^' 
 ed this belief in confident terms. (a) He did not 
 
 (a) Some of the correspondence on this subject, selected 
 from the MSS. Cott., will be found in Ellis's Original Let- 
 ters, vol, i. p. 146, &tc. 
 
CHAP. 
 V. 
 
 Francis 
 commits 
 
 240 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 however^ relax in his pursuit of the measures 
 best calculated to insure his success ; nor did 
 he undervalue the pretensions of his opponent. 
 ^' Your master and I are rivals, it is true/^ 
 he said to the Spanish ambassadors,, '' but we 
 are not therefore enemies. We are the lovers 
 of the same mistress ; whom we must seek to 
 win with ardour, but still tenderly and respect- 
 fully ; and there is no need that the slightest 
 animosity should minole in our contest/^ 
 
 To Bonnivet, of whose attachment to his per- 
 the ma- g^^^ ^^^ j^j^ iiitcrcsts lie \\ as convinced^ and whose 
 
 nagement 
 
 ?es^sVo"^^ prosperous mission to England had given him 
 Bonnivet. ^ rcputatiou for diplomatic talent, for which he 
 was more indebted to chance than to his own 
 skill, he committed the management of this im- 
 portant affair. D'Albret d'Orval, who was really 
 entitled to that fame which Bonnivet enjoyed, 
 and the marquis de Fleuranges, whose know- 
 ledge of the affairs of Germany made his assis- 
 tance extremely valuable^ were associated with 
 the admiral, and a sum of 400,000 crowns placed 
 at their disposal, to be distributed among the 
 electoral princes, whose poverty and rapacity 
 laid them extremely open to this temptation. 
 He endeavoured also to gain the interest of such 
 of the foreign powers as were likely to influence 
 ^ their suffrages. The Pope, whose policy it was to 
 prevent the election of either of the competitors, 
 affected to prove his gratitude and attachment 
 to Francis, by promoting his interests ; which, 
 however, he secretly traversed in the hope that 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 241 
 
 V. 
 
 after the kin^ of France and Charles should chap. 
 both be defeated, the former would aid his holi- 
 ness's views in fixing the imperial crown on the 
 head of some less potent prince, from whom 
 Italy would have nothing to fear. Henry of 
 England, who had unequivocally promised Fran- 
 cis his support^ behaved to him with still 
 greater duplicity^ by surreptitiously giving it to 
 Charles, (a) The state of Venice adhered to 
 
 (a) The detection of this fraud is mentioned in a letter of 
 Sir Thomas Boleyn to cardinal Wolsey, March 25th, 1519 ; 
 in which he relates an audience he had lately had with the 
 duchess d' An^ouleme, in the absence of Francis, who had 
 gone from Paris during his queen's confinement. From the 
 manner in which the communication was made to the English 
 ambassador, there is little reason to doubt the impression 
 which the discovery had made on the mind of Francis, not- 
 withstanding the courtly turn which the duchess gives to it, 
 and her apparent belief in Henry's sincerity. The letter is, 
 in every respect, a curious one : " My lady toold me that the 
 king her sonne whan he departed, willed her to shew me a 
 letter that came now streyt out of Spayn, from his ambassa- 
 dour there, and therewithall she called to her the tresourer 
 Robertet, and bad hym shewe me that letter, wherein was 
 wrytten by the said ambassador whose name is de la Roche 
 Beauconot, that the king's highnesse had late sent a lettre 
 to the king Catholique, advertysyng hym how the king here 
 had desired the king's highnesse by his letters to write 
 to th'ellectowrs of th'empire in his favour, the rather to 
 atteyn the dygnyte of th'empire ; the which the king's 
 highnesse hath refused bicause of the amytie betwixt the 
 king's grace and the king Catholique, and how the king's 
 highnesse had rather that the king Catholique wer em- 
 perowr than the king here ; which lettre he wryteth is in 
 th'andes of the bishop of Bourges, oon of the great counsell 
 of Spayn. When I had redde this clawse in the lettre sent 
 VOL. I. K 
 
242 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 V. 
 
 the spirit of its alliance with France, and openly 
 _ and earnestly promoted the claims of its mo- 
 narch s. The king* of Poland, whom Francis 
 had solicited by his envoy Langeac to favour his 
 views, expressed his intention of adopting the 
 course which Louis, king of Hungary, should 
 resolve upon. The latter declared at once for 
 Charles, not only on account of the recent alli- 
 ance between their families by the marriage of 
 his sister with the archduke Ferdinand, but 
 because the danger^ which he had too much 
 reason to apprehend from Turkey would be 
 lessened by the support of an emperor of the 
 house of Austria, whose contiguous dominions 
 engaged him as in a common cause to repel the 
 threatened irruption. The Helvetic states too, 
 who would have been well pleased to see neither 
 of the candidates succeed, declined to interfere 
 in favour of either; and the other powers of 
 Europe, whose combination might have in- 
 fluenced the election, seemed to be too little 
 
 out of Spayn, I prayed my lady that she wold g-yve noo 
 credence to yt, and shewed her how I thought that the said 
 ambassador wrote this by informacion of some maliciouse 
 personne that wold sett discord betwixt princes ; and that I 
 assured her it was not twew. She toold me that she had soo 
 perfecte trust in the kyng my master's honnor that she be- 
 loved, nor wold beleve, noo such thing ; and no more she 
 sayeth woll the king her sonne : saying* that whan the King 
 here redde the same clause in the lettre wrytten to hym by 
 his ambassadour in Spayn he did but lawgh at it, and gave 
 no credence thereto. And she saied it cowlde not be trewe." 
 MSS. Cal. D. vii. fol. 105. Ellis, vol. i. p. 151. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST? 243 
 
 impressed with the importance of an event which ^ " ap. 
 was so calculated to affect their several interests. ^' 
 
 The activity of Charles in the meantime was claries 
 
 1 1 1 • I 1 T T torms use- 
 
 mcessantly, though silently exerted, and some fuiconnex- 
 accidents which could not perhaps have been s'ti'eng"h- 
 
 , I . , . . 1 . 1 ens hij 
 
 calculated upon, some omissions which were party. 
 made involuntarily^ aided his designs while they 
 exerted a fatal influence on those of Francis. 
 The queen dowager of Spain, Germaine de Foix, 
 who felt that she was neglected, and who feared 
 that she might possibly experience still worse 
 treatment from Charles, upon whose regard her 
 claims were not of the strongest kind, had made 
 some representations to the court of France, to 
 which she naturally looked for support and pro- 
 tection. Her requests had been disregarded, and 
 the disappointment and mortification which were 
 naturally produced in her mind by such an event, 
 induced her to speak in no measured language 
 of the king of France, who had overlooked alike 
 the maxims of good policy and of right feeling, in 
 deserting her interests. The expressions of her 
 discontent were eagerly caught up^ and Charles, 
 whose greatest good fortune consisted n avculing 
 himself of the errors \\1 ich his thoughtless rival 
 committed, made the queen dowager a pow rful 
 instrument in favour of his designs, by extend- 
 ing to her his regard and protection. He mar- 
 ried her to Casimir, who was. brother of the elector 
 of Brandenburg and of the bishop of Mayence, 
 two of the most influential persons in the diet 
 which was about to assemble. Tlie matcli 
 
 r2 
 
244 
 
 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 V. 
 
 Francis 
 quarrels 
 with Ro- 
 bert de 
 la Mark, 
 who takes 
 part with 
 Charles. 
 
 was not a splendid one for a queen of Spain ; 
 but Germaine had expressed some impatience 
 at the monotonous life to which the death of her 
 late husband had condemned her, («) and was 
 delighted to change the solitary grandeur of her 
 nominal royalty for the more solid comfort of 
 an union with a husband, who^, although only a 
 younger brother of the house of Brandenburg, 
 was of her own ao:e. 
 
 A more fatal fault was that which drove Ro- 
 bert de la Mark, lord of Sedan, and his brother 
 the bishop of Liege, from the interests of France. 
 The first, who had distinguished himself as one 
 of the bravest men of his day, and who was 
 the father, among other sons worthy of such a 
 parent^ of the marquis de Fleuranges, had been 
 disgusted by having his company cashiered, and 
 his pensions ill paid through the influence of 
 the duchess d'Angouleme, who detested him be- 
 cause he had been one of the partisans of the 
 late queen Anne. The bishop of Liege was a 
 candidate for a cardinaPs hat, which the king, 
 w ho knew his value, had warmly solicited for 
 him. The duchess wrote to the Pope, assuring 
 him that the king's request was only made to 
 
 (a) This queen found it easier to console herself for the 
 death of Ferdinand than suitably to supply his loss. When 
 she first saw the French ambassador, she eagerly asked after 
 the duchess d'Angouleme, and whether she was about to be 
 married again, " Les femmes de notre rang sont a plain- 
 dre," she added ; trop ^lev^es par un premier mariage, 
 elles ne peuvent quedescendre en faveur d'un second, etleur 
 gloire en souffre." — Gaillard, t. i. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 245 
 
 keep up aj^pearances with the bishop of Li^ge, and chap. 
 that lie was at heart desirous that tlie bishop of ^' 
 Bourges (brother of the treasurer, andoue of her 
 own creatures,) should be preferred. The Pope 
 believed her, Bohier was made cardinal, and on 
 a friend of the bishop of Lie^e remonstrating" at 
 the court of Rome on the bttle respect that was 
 paid to the king's request, Bembo, who was 
 then secretary, produced the duchess's letter. 
 The king, when he learnt the fraud that had 
 been practised, indignantly disavowed all par- 
 ticipation in it ; but it was then too late. The 
 bishop had in disgust embraced the cause of the 
 king of Spain, and had induced his brother to fol- 
 low the same course, and thus Francis lost, while 
 Charles gained, two most valuable adherents. 
 
 One of the consequences of their defection The ad- 
 was, that it induced another individual^ whose sSg- 
 services Francis had neglected to secure when he ^^"' 
 might have done so, to espouse the party of Charles. 
 Francis Sickinghen was one of those extraordi- 
 nary spirits who seem born for the purpose of 
 proving what individual activity and genius can 
 achieve. He was a gentleman of Germany, of 
 small fortune, and obscure family, but by his 
 courage, his eloquence, and his intelligence, he 
 had raised himself to a position of great im- 
 portance. He was acquainted with all the in- 
 fluential persons of Germany, and had engaged 
 most of them in his interests. His exploits 
 would seem a fitter subject for romance than 
 for history ; but that history is sometimes the 
 
246 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. nyQ§( marvellous kind of romance. He liad raised 
 
 V. 
 
 '. — a small force^ which he kept constantly on foot, 
 
 and with which he carried on war against the 
 emperor, and such of the independent states as 
 had not engaged his alliance. He traversed Ger- 
 many with a rapidity which defied pursuit. At 
 different periods he had attacked the duke of 
 LorrainCj the burghers of Metz^ the landgrave 
 of HessCj and had reduced them severally to pay 
 him tributes. When a force with which he could 
 not cope was directed against him, he and his 
 army disappeared, until, by his intrigues, he 
 had provoked the attack of some more powerful 
 enemy against the emperor, and thus drawn off 
 his resentment from himself, when he returned 
 with unabated resolution to the prosecution of 
 his former designs. Pleuranges, who knew his 
 value, presented him to Francis, as a man whose 
 assistance might be made of the greatest service 
 in effecting his projects upon the empire. The 
 king was struck with the extraordinary talents 
 which the German displayed, treated him with 
 great distinction, granted him a pension of one 
 thousand crowns, and made presents to the train 
 of gentlemen whom Sickinghen always led with 
 him, and who, in point of birth and fortune, 
 were infinitely his superiors. Francis, however, 
 kept up towards him a reserve which wounded 
 the pride of this haughty adventurer. He en- 
 o-aa^ed him to serve in Germanv, but lie did not 
 think fit to explain to him the real point at 
 which he aimed. Sickinghen, before lie de- 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 247 
 
 parted^ told his friend Fleuranges, that he was chap. 
 
 grateful for the generosity, and dehghted with '- — 
 
 the reception he had met with from the king, to 
 whom he promised to devote his best services 
 against all the world, excepting only the house 
 of la Mark, to whom he was under indelible 
 obligations. " But he does not know me/' he 
 added, '' if he thinks that I am more easily 
 to be attached to him by his bounty than by 
 his confidence. I see through his plans, al- 
 though he and you have thought fit not to 
 avow them : he aims at the empire. I de- 
 Tuanded certain troops from him, and he has 
 refused my request; he thought, perhaps, I 
 wanted them for myself; but they were solely 
 for the purpose of gaining for him a body of Ger- 
 man gentlemen. Tell him that he will never be 
 well served but by simple gentlemen such as I 
 am. If he deals with princes and electors they 
 will take his money and deceive him after- 
 wards.*^ Sickinghen returned to Germany, and 
 exercised again the free warfare to which he was 
 accustomed. Some traders of Germany who 
 had been unjustly dealt with by certain Milan 
 merchants, applied to him for assistance, and he 
 did them right by seizing property of the value 
 of 25,000 francs belonging to the Milaners. 
 The latter carried their complaints to Francis Quarrels 
 as their liege lord, and he demanded restitution ds!^anr^' 
 from Sickinghen, who replied, that when the t^rsid^of 
 Germans under his protection should have had ^^/J^'ps 
 
 A of Spain* 
 
 justice done to them, he would give up the ef- 
 
248 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 fects he had seized. The king's council^ who 
 
 had no notion of the sort of man they had to 
 
 deal with^ punished the haughtiness of his an- 
 swer by suspending his pension, and Sicking- 
 hen, thus freed from his engagements with 
 Francis^ became a party to those which his 
 friends of the house of la Mark had formed with 
 the king of Spain. He afterwards put himself 
 at the head of a body of Suabian troops, w hose 
 services Francis might have secured, but neg- 
 lected^ and his presence with this force in the 
 neighbourhood of Frankfort, when the diet was 
 assembled there^ was believed to have contri- 
 buted, in no small degree, to influence the elec- 
 tion. 
 Charles While Fraucis thus neglected some of the 
 
 sdno^^d ^^^^ obvious means of strengthening his party _, 
 friends. Charlcs was secretly^ but most earnestly em- 
 ployed in securing adherents. That obscurity 
 which his opponents thought was his greatest 
 disadvantage he had the skill to turn to profit. 
 The German princes loved their own indepen- 
 dence too well to name to the imperial dignity 
 one whose power^ seconding his ambition, might 
 have reduced them to the condition of his vas- 
 sals. Next to this, their chief object was to have 
 elected a monarch whose interest it would be to 
 repel the threatened invasion of the Turk, at 
 whose pow er all Europe was appalled. In both 
 these respects Charles was powerfully recom- 
 mended to them ; but although he was fully 
 aware of the ascendancy w hich on these grounds 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 249 
 
 C H A P. 
 V. 
 
 sair^j. 
 
 he possessed, he neglected no opportunity of 
 gaining by large bribes, and by still larger pro- 
 mises^ such of the electors as were accessible on 
 those points^ and threats were not spared with such 
 of the smaller powers as, if they had any incli- 
 nation to oppose his will, were in no situation to 
 provoke his enmity, [a) An occasion otfered at ^jjj^jy'^^t 
 the same time, of shewing' his determined hos- ^^^ ^V'^ , 
 
 ■' o some I urk- 
 
 tility ao-ainst the Turks, of which he took a ishcor- 
 prompt and judicious advantage. Some Maho- 
 metan corsairs had been scouring the Mediter- 
 ranean, to the great terror of the merchants, and 
 the serious injury of the commerce of the Italian 
 states. Their enterprises had been so success- 
 ful, and had continued so long unchecked, that 
 fears lest they should make an attack upon the 
 shores of Italy, were very commonly, and not 
 unreasonably entertained. The Pope, who par- 
 took of these fears, and who was besides ex- 
 tremely jealous of the naval force which Charles 
 had long been sedulously preparing, earnestly 
 besought him to attack the corsairs. Charles im- 
 mediately ordered his gallej s to sea, under the 
 command of Ugo de Moncada, viceroy of Sicily, 
 who pursued the Mussulmen with such vigour, 
 that he cleared the Mediterranean of them ; and 
 this before an expedition which Francis had 
 fitted out for the same purpose, and which Pietro 
 da Navarra headed, had got afloat, [b) 
 
 [a) Guicciardiui, 1. xiii. Sleidan, Hist, of the Reforma- 
 tion, xiv. Struvii Corp. Hist. Germ., ii. 97. 
 
 [b] It is clear that Francis had promised to make war 
 
250 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 V. 
 
 Things were in this position, when in the niid- 
 - die of June the electoral diet was convened in 
 of Frank- tlic Rccustonied foriTi at Frankfort. The se\ en 
 °'^* electors, in whom the right of nominating to the 
 empire was vested, were, Albert of Branden- 
 burg, archbishop of Mayence ; Herman, count 
 de Wied, archbishop of Cologne; Ricliard de 
 Grieftenklau, archbishop of Treves ; Louis, king 
 of Bohemia ; Louis, count palatine of the Rhine ; 
 Frederick, duke of Saxony ; and Joachim, mar- 
 
 upon the Turks, and that he had used this pretence for the 
 purpose of soliciting the assistance of Henry YIII. in his 
 election. In a letter of Sir Thomas Boleyn to Wolsey, of the 
 28th Feb. 1519, (MSS. Cotton. CnWg. D. viii. fol. 88.) he 
 , details a conversation with Francis, in which he says, — 
 
 ** 1 was so famyliar with hym, that I asked hym in ernest if 
 he were emperour, whether he wold make a voyage agenst 
 the infidels in bis proper person as the voyce went. He 
 took me hard by the wryst with the oon hand, and layed the 
 other hand upon his brest, and sware to me by his feyth if 
 he atteyn to be emperour, that within three years after he 
 wold bee in Constantynople, or he wold dye by the way." 
 In talking still further of the enterprise, Francis told him 
 that " his realme was to hym six millions yerely and over 
 that in value, and that he wold spend three millions of gold, 
 but he would succeed." In another letter to Wclsey, dated 
 March 14, Sir Thomas represents Francis to have said, 
 that now, since Henry and he were of a mind, neither 
 Emperor nor Pope should be made but such as pleased 
 them. This, it is probable, was a speech more especially 
 intended for the ear of Wolsey. From these notices of con- 
 versations, it will be seen, tliat although the promise of 
 Henry's interest for the empire in favour of Francis was not 
 finally given till March 14th, it had been verbally pro- 
 mised from the very time of the arrival of the first news of 
 Maximilian's death." — Ellis's Orig. Letters, vol, i. p. 147. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 251 
 
 CHAP. 
 V. 
 
 quis of Brandenburg', (a) According to the 
 provisions which had of old been made for se- 
 curing the independence of tlie elections, the 
 ministers of the several candidates were prohi- 
 bited from appearing within a certain distance of 
 the place at which it was to be carried on ; but 
 their anxiety to observe the progress of so in- 
 teresting a ceremony kept them still in its im- 
 mediate vicinity. The cardinal de Gurck, and 
 the count of Nassau^ Charles's emissaries, re- 
 mained at Mayence, while those of Francis took 
 up their abode at Coblentz, Bonnivet, whose 
 ill-advised zeal induced him to place the in- 
 terests of his master's cause^ as well as his own 
 existence, in a situation of much peril, concealed 
 himself in a castle near Frankfort, and in the 
 disguise of a servant, and carrying a trunk, he 
 occasionally ventured into the city itself, al- 
 thousrh he knew that if he had been discovered 
 his life would have been forfeited. 
 
 The deliberations were opened by the arch- xhepro- 
 bishop of Mentz^ who, in a speech of great oftheeiec- 
 length, exerted all the arguments which his in- 
 genuity could suggest, backed by the fascina- 
 tions of extraordinary eloquence, to induce the 
 electors to favour the pretensions of Charles. 
 The elector of Treves, on the part of Francis, 
 insisted upon the power, the talents^ and the 
 moderation of which the past life of the French 
 monarch had given satisfactory proof in support 
 of the claim which he laid to their suffrages. 
 
 [a] Robertson, Charles V., vol. fi. 
 
252 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. Yj^g assembly, who had formed a wise estimate 
 
 y " 
 
 '- — of the qualifications of both the candidates, were 
 
 well disposed to maintain their independence by 
 supporting" neither, and believing that their in- 
 terests would be protected, while their liberties 
 would incur no peril, if the imperial authority 
 should be placed in the hands of one of their 
 own body, they offered it to the elector of 
 Saxony. The talents and virtue of the prince 
 justified such a choice ; but he was too wise to 
 accept this mark of their esteem and confidence. 
 He knew the exertions which the rank of em- 
 peror^ to be adequately sustained, would require, 
 and estimated his own limited powers too well to 
 undertake so onerous a charge. In declining 
 the proffered dignity, he recommended to the 
 votes of the electoi's the king of Spain, as a mo- 
 narch whose interests were identified with those 
 of Germany^ and who lacked neither power 
 nor inducement to keep in check the menacing 
 Turks, (a) The king of Bohemia and the elec- 
 tor of Brandenl)urg, joining themselves to the 
 archbishops of Cologne and Mayence, formed a 
 considerable majority in favour of Charles. The 
 elector palatine was induced to waver in his sup- 
 port of Francis, by the fear of an attack on his 
 
 (a) If the disinterestedness of the elector of Saxony re- 
 quired any other proof than that which his conduct furnished, 
 it would be found in the fact of his indignantly refusing- a 
 very large gratuity which was offered him, after the elec- 
 tion, by the Spanish ministers, who knew how much their 
 master's cause had been served by his exertions. Sleidan, 
 p, 14. Robeitson's Charles V., 1. i. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 253 
 
 own dominions which Sickinghen and his wild chap. 
 bands threatened, and after a decent she>v of re- ^' 
 luctance, he acceded to the stronger side. The 
 archbishop of Treves, not disheartened at the 
 powerful odds which were opposed to him, still 
 persisted in his support of Francis's pretensions^ 
 and in the hope of gaining some of the electors 
 to his side, he endeavoured to procrastinate 
 the deliberations. At length, after a vain strug- 
 gle, he was compelled to go to the election, which 
 he did, protesting that he consented to it, not 
 from a conviction of its propriety, but from a 
 desire to preserve the empire from the horrors 
 which might be consequent upon a division of 
 votes, (a) 
 
 [a) Richard Pace, who was the English minister at the 
 diet, speaks plainly in many of his letters, of the bribery 
 which had been severally used by Charles and Francis, in 
 order to gain the votes of the electors. He states the sums 
 (fifty thousand ducats of gold) which Charles had promised 
 to pay to four of them on his election being made sure, and 
 that "the Frenche king hath promisidde double of all that 
 Oder princes Christian woll gyve for this empire. So that 
 here is the most dear merchandize that ever was sould ; and 
 after myne opynyon it shal be the worste that ever was 
 boujjht, unto hym that shall obteyne it." — Ellis, vol. i. p. 159. 
 It appears however that Charles's gold was not their only 
 inducement to elect him, for in a letter dated from Mecklin, 
 the 27th of July, Pace says, *' and surely they (the electors) 
 wold not have electidde him (Charles) yf fere off there per- 
 sons hadde not driven them thereunto, and evident ruin off 
 all there nation yff they hadde electidde ony oihre king." 
 MSS. Cott. Galba, B. v. f. 285. The duchess d'Angou- 
 leme (a most questionable authority) told Sir Thomas Boleyn, 
 among many other things, equally true, that " (he electours 
 
254 
 
 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 V. 
 
 Charles is 
 
 elected 
 
 emperor. 
 
 By such means it was that on the 28th of June 
 the king* of Spain was unanimously elected em- 
 peror, and proclaimed by the title of Charles V. 
 to the destruction of the hopes which Francis 
 had^ not unreasonably:, entertained of obtaining" 
 that enviable dignity. While the electors dis- 
 patched a solemn embassy to Charles, then at 
 Barcelona, with the news of his elevation to the 
 imperial throne, Bonnivet and the other French 
 ministers hastened home, filled with mortifica- 
 tion, and narrowly escaped by the way an am- 
 bush which Sickinghen had prepared for the pur- 
 pose of easing them of such of their gold as the 
 rapacity of the electors had left. 
 Francis's This extinguishment of his hopes fell with 
 disappoint- intCHse bittemcss on Francis, not less be- 
 cause it was wholly unexpected, than because 
 he saw preferred to him a rival whose compe- 
 tition he had scarcely regarded. A youth un- 
 known, powerless, and, as he had believed, al- 
 most friendless, had carried away from him the 
 prize on which his soaring ambition had fixed 
 its highest aspirations, and this too, not by any 
 blind chance, but by combinations which con- 
 summate prudence had devised, and which ex- 
 traordinary skill and perseverance had carried 
 into execution. Already he began to perceive 
 that in the young emperor he was to find his 
 competitor in other fields than that in which they 
 
 meat. 
 
 amongst them all hath not had of the king her sonne past 
 a hundreth thousand crownes." — MSS. Cott. Calig. B. vii. 
 f. 140. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 255 
 
 had been lately engaged ; and with that elasticity chap. 
 
 and promptness of mind which he po.«sessed '- — 
 
 in so remarkable a degree^ he began to lay plans 
 for checking the new power that had^ at a single 
 leap, raised itself to an ascendancy which, though 
 he did not fear, he could not patiently brook. 
 In the meantime he carefully concealed all out- 
 ward appearance of disappointment, and even 
 affected to rejoice that the result of the election 
 had been in accordance with the wishes of his 
 own subjects, who had expressed their feai-s 
 and discontent, lest their king, being emperor^ 
 should remove the seat of his government, [a) 
 
 Francis' second son, who afterwards ascended The birth 
 the throne, under the title of Henry the Second, dauphin 
 was born on the 31st of March in this year, at 
 St. Germain en Laye. In anticipation of this 
 event, Francis had solicited Henry the Eighth to 
 be the godfather of his child if it should be a 
 son, and the English king had acceded to his 
 request. (6) The ceremony was performed on 
 
 [a) In a letter from Sir Thomas Boleyn to Henry VIII. 
 be says, "and now Monsr. le Bastard, and they of the coun- 
 sell here say y t is a good torne for the king here, and a great 
 weale for his reaulme that he is not emperor, for they say 
 yf he had been it shoulde have put him to an infante busy- 
 nesse, and impoverychyd and undoone his subgietts." — 
 MSS. Cotton. Calig. D. vii. f. 140. 
 
 [b) Sir Richard Wingfield announced this request to 
 Henry VIII. in a letter from Paris, dated the 17th March, 
 1519. " The king here desireth your highnesse at this tyme 
 thatif the queen here shall have a Sonne that it wold please 
 your grace to be godfather, and that it may be named after 
 your highnesse, Harry."— MSS. Cott. Calig. D. vii. f. 182. 
 
256 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. ii^Q 4th of June, at which Sir Thomas Boleyn 
 
 '- — officiated as Henry's proxy. The duke d'Alen- 
 
 ^on was the second godfather, and the duchess 
 de Nemours the godmother, (a) 
 The death While the election was pending, Chievresand 
 ^'^* Boisy had been engaged at Montpellier in ar- 
 ranging the terms of a treaty, the object of 
 which was to secure to both kingdoms a con- 
 tinuation of that peace which they believed was 
 most advantageous to their respective monarchs. 
 The sudden death of Boisy^ who was carried off 
 by a fever just as his labours had reached a 
 close, prevented the completion of this treaty, 
 and Francis, relieved from the influence of a 
 minister who had always endeavoured to sup- 
 press his propensity for war, began to think of 
 resorting to that ultima ratio regum for aveng- 
 ing a disappointment, of which however he 
 would not condescend to complain. With this 
 view he turned his thoughts first towards Eng- 
 
 . (a) The circumstances of this ceremony were announced 
 by Sir Thomas Boleyn, in a letter to cardinal Wolsey, dated 
 the 7th of June, in which he says. " after all was doon the 
 kyng came to me and sayd, he thankud the king's highnesse 
 of the great honour that he had doon hym in crystenyng of 
 his chyld, saying, that when soever yt shall fortune the king's 
 highness to have a prince he shalbe glad to doo for hym in 
 like manner, and that he ismynded after his said sonne shall 
 
 come to age and be able to he purposyth to send hym 
 
 to the king's grace into England to doo him service." It was 
 upon this occasion that Francis made that proposition for a 
 personal interview with Henry, which was afterwards car- 
 ried into effect at the field of Cloth of Gold.— MSS. Cotton. 
 Calig. D. vii. f. 121. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 
 
 257 
 
 land, whose monarch he affected to think had ch^^- 
 
 been as ill-treated as himself by the result of the '- — 
 
 election, and with whom he was anxious to Proposals 
 streno"then his alliance, as well for the purpose ingbe- 
 of preventing Henry's closer union with his Piands 
 rival as for putting his Belgian frontiers in such ^" ^^^^' 
 a posture of defence or attack as future occa- 
 sions might require. He therefore renewed his 
 gracious promises to Wolsey, whose desire to ' 
 attain the papacy made him eager to form con- 
 nexions with such of the continental sovereigns 
 as were most able to favour his designs, and 
 directed the French gentlemen who remained in 
 England as hostages^ and who had access to the 
 court, to express the wish he felt for an inter- 
 view with Henry, and to renew the proposition 
 he had formerly made to that effect, [a) This 
 was soon agreed upon, but the arrangement of 
 the ceremonial cost a long correspondence and 
 much preparation, and it was not until the spring 
 
 [a] "The iiii gentlemen, hostages of France, daily resorted 
 to the courte, and had greate chere, and wer well enter- 
 teined, and, every tyme thei moved, stirred, and required 
 the kyng to passe the sea, and to meete vrith the Frenche 
 kyng their master, whom thei preised highly, affirmyng 
 that if the king and he might once familiarly comon together, 
 that there should suche a constant love rise and encrease 
 between theim, that afterward should never faile. This 
 request was oftentimes hard and little regarded, but yet by 
 the meanes of the cardinall, at the last in the end of February, 
 it was agreed that the kyng in person should pass the sea 
 to his castle and lordship of Guisnes, and there in Male 
 next, commyng betweene Guisnes and Arde, the kyng and the 
 Frenche kyng should meete," — Hall, f. dxix. 
 
 VOL. I. . S 
 
258 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, of the following 3 ear that the day was fixed for a 
 
 '. personal meeting between the kings of France 
 
 and England somewhere near the boundary of 
 the British possessions in France. 
 chariesvi- Charlcs^ wlio had heard of the proposed inter- 
 land. "^ view, determined, by an appearance of respect 
 and cordiality towards Henry, to guard the Eng- 
 lish monarch's mind against any unfavourable 
 impressions respecting him which the French 
 king or his ministers might endeavour to create. 
 On his way. therefore,, from Spain to Aix la 
 Chapelle, where he was to receive the imperial 
 crown J he visited England, under the pretence 
 of paying his respects to the queen^ his aunt. 
 Henry was on his way to Dover when news of 
 Charles's arrival reached him and he dispatched 
 Wolsey to receive him. On the following morn- 
 ing the monarchs met^ and rode together to 
 Canterbury^ where they staid for four days^ [a) 
 
 [a] Hall's account of the interview between the monarchs 
 is extremely picturesque. '* Calmenes of the wether and 
 lacke of wynde caused that the emperoure might not so 
 sone take laude at the porte of Doner as he would have 
 dooen. Notwithstandyng", towardes the euen he departed 
 from his shippes and entered into his boate commyng to- 
 wardes the lande, where in his comyng- to the lande, on the 
 sea, the reuerent father, lorde Wolsay, cardinall and legate, 
 mette and received hym with suche reuerence as to so noble 
 a prince apperteigned. Thus landed the emperoure Charles 
 vnder the clothe of his estate of the black egle all splaied on 
 riche clothe of golde. In his retinue with hym were many 
 noble menne and many faire ladies of his bloud, as princes 
 and princesses, and one ladie, as chief to bee noted, was the 
 princes Auimon, with many other nobles whiche lauded with 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST, 259 
 
 a space which Charles employed so well as chap. 
 
 to ingratiate himself with Henry, and to ar- 
 
 hym in high and sumptuous maner and great riches in their 
 apparell : greate ioye made the people of England to see the 
 emperour, and more to see the benyng maner and mekeness 
 of so high a prince. Then when the emperour thus had 
 taken lande, the reuerent father lord cardynall was as con- 
 ducte to the same noble emperour from the shore of Douer 
 vnto the castell there. Then were all persons chered the best 
 that there in the towne might be. 
 
 The Emperour beyng thus in the castell of Douer, with 
 hast tidynges came to the kyng where as he was at Cantor- 
 burj'-, who hasted hym towards the noble emperour. And so 
 came tiding early in the morning to the castell of Douer, 
 within which castell the kyng alighted. The emperour, 
 heryng the kyng to come, came out of his chamber to meet 
 w*^ the kyng, and so met with him on the stayres or he 
 coulde come up, wher eche embraced other right louingly; 
 then ye kyng brought the emperour to hys chamber, where 
 as there communyng was of gladnes. 
 
 Sone after these two noble princes, on the Whitsonday 
 early in the morenynge, tooke their horse and rode to the 
 cytee of Cantorbury the more to solempne the feast of Pen- 
 tecost ; but specially to see the queue of Englande, his aunte, 
 was the intent of the emperour. 
 
 The noble personages of the realme of England, and the 
 queue, with her beautiful trayne of ladies, receiued and wel- 
 commed the same Charles elect emperour, whose person was 
 by the kyng conueighed to a faire and pleasant chamber, 
 where the sayde emperour apparelled hym right richely. 
 Then the noble retynue of the sayde emperour, as well of 
 lordes as ladyes, were lodged as well as theie might be with 
 ioye and muche gladnes, and there in Cantorbury soiorned 
 the emperour and all his trayne with the kyng until the 
 Thursdaye in the same weke. 
 
 The last daye of Maye beyng Thursday, the emperour 
 toke leaue of the kyng and of all the ladyes, and gaue great 
 
 s2 
 
 V. 
 
260 
 
 CHAP. 
 V. 
 
 uig. 
 
 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 range for a future meeting respecting their mu- 
 
 tual interests. 
 
 Francis observed this with some uneasiness, 
 but hastened to be in readiness for his interview 
 with Henry ^ by whicli he hoped to counteract 
 Charles's influence. He wrote to Wolsey, ap- 
 prizing him that he knew of Charles's visits and 
 expressing his intention of setting out to the 
 appointed place. Henry almost immediately 
 after the departure of the emperor, who em- 
 barked from Sandwich, proceeded to Dover^ and 
 thence crossed over to Calais with his train. 
 Prepara- Tlic preparations for this interview were made 
 the"meet- on citlicr sidc with a gorgeous pomp which had 
 never been equalled. A mistaken rivalry be- 
 tween the nobles of the two nations, who were 
 resolved to outvie each other in the splendour of 
 their apparel and appointments, led them into 
 numberless offences against good taste and good 
 sense. The arrogance of Wolsey and the lavish 
 spirit of Henry overruled the more prudent de- 
 sire^ which Francis had ventured to insinuate, 
 that the ceremonies misjlit be conducted on a 
 somewhat moderate scale ; [a) and the conse- 
 
 thankes, and so rode to Sandwiche, and there toke his 
 shippes ; the wynde to hyiii was likyng, whereby he sayled 
 into Flanders. 
 
 (a) *' Sir, The king here wolde gladlye knowe wydder 
 the kyng his brother cowde be contente to forbere the 
 makynge of rich tents and pavilions, whiche thynge he cowde 
 be well contentyd to forbere on hys parte." — Sir Richard 
 Wingfield to Cardinal Wolsey. Ellis, vol. i. p. 167. 
 
261 
 
 CHAP. 
 V. 
 
 OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 
 
 quence of this proposition beini^ rejected was, 
 that tlie expense was immense^ particularly on 
 the part of the French, (a) who thoim'lit them- The Field 
 
 ^ ' ^ ^ ^ of Cloth of 
 
 selves bound to maintain the honour oi their Gold. 
 nation by a needless and ruinous magnificence. 
 The particulars of the ceremonial \vhich was 
 to regulate the interview of the monarchs hav- 
 ing been arranged by the ministers on either 
 side, {b) with a minuteness which savoured more 
 of jealous caution than of punctilious etiquette^ 
 on the 7th of June, 1520, Francis rode from 
 Guisnes, a frontier toivn belonging to him^ while 
 Henry advanced from Ardres, the last town on 
 the English pale^ towards an open plain which 
 had been selected for the meeting, and where 
 
 (a) "Elle fut telle que plusieursy porterentleurs moulins, 
 leurs forets, etleurs pies siir leurs ^paules." — Mem. cle du 
 Bellay, 1. i, 
 
 [b) The ceremonial, as seUled by Wolsey, is given in Hall. 
 '' The said kyng- of England shall issue out of his castle of 
 Guisnes halfe a miJe long-, without that he shall issue out of 
 the limites of his deraain of Guisnes, and shall come towardes 
 the said castle of Arde, and there, within the territorie of the 
 said castle of Guisnes, he shall rest in some place not fortified 
 nor walled, and nere the limites of Fraunce, that the said 
 commissioners shall assigne as aboue said ; and the said 
 right christen kyng, parting from his castle of Arde, shall 
 come towardes the said kyng of England the same daie, 
 place, time, and houre, that shall tary hym within the de- 
 main of Guisnes as is said : In the whiche shall not bee set 
 nor dressed any pauilions or tentes, and there the said twoo 
 kynges beynge on horsebacke, with their retinue, shall se 
 the one thother, and salute ech other and speak e together 
 familiarly and conmion in that sort and maner, and so long 
 as shall seme to them good." 
 
262 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, tents had been pitched so gorg-eous and so 
 
 ' costly as to give to it the name, by which it 
 
 is always called^ of The Field of Cloth of 
 Gold. 
 
 The warning guns being fired from the two 
 towns, the monarchs and their retinues set for- 
 ward. Francis^ accompanied by a large train 
 of nobles and gentlemen, all richly dressed and 
 well mounted^ came first into the field. Henry, 
 attended in like manner, reached the bank of 
 the Andern ; and here for a moment both parties 
 paused, a notion being entertained on either side 
 that the train of the other outnumbered their 
 own. (a) There was probably little difference 
 between them^ but, at all events, it was disre- 
 garded, and the main bodies halting here, the 
 two kings advanced to meet each other. 
 
 Francis was accompanied by the duke of 
 Bourbon^ who bore the sword of his office naked 
 before the king ; by the lord admiral, and by the 
 
 (a) Lord Abergavenny, who had been among the French 
 party, thought it incumbent on him to inform Henry that 
 their numbers exceeded those of his own followers, wherefore 
 the Earl of Shrewsbury said, *' * Sir, whatever my lorde of 
 Burgheny saieth, I myself haue beene there, and the French- 
 menne bee more in feare of you and youre subjectes than 
 youre subjectes bee of them, wherefore,' saied the earle, 
 * if I wer worthie to give counsaill, your grace should marche 
 forwarde.' ' So we intende, my lorde,' saide the kyng. 
 Then the officers of armes cried, * On, afore.' Then in 
 shorte while was the kyng on the bank of Andern, then 
 every gentleman as thei roade toke his place, and stood still 
 side by side, their regard or face towards the vale of Andern." 
 — Hall, f. Ixxvii, 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 263 
 
 master of the hoise. With Henry rode the car- chap. 
 diual of York, and the marquis of Dorset, bearing ^' 
 the sword of state. When it was perceived that 
 the French constable carried his sword unsheath- 
 ed, Henry bade the marquis of Dorset bare his 
 sword also, and in this manner the two parties 
 advanced into the valley of Ardres^ where they 
 met. The kings approached, and first em- 
 braced each other on horseback^ then, alighting, 
 repeated their congratulations^ and proceeded 
 together to a rich tent of cloth of gold which 
 had been prepared for their reception. " Thus^ 
 arme in arme/' says Hall, " went tlie Frenche 
 kyng, Frauncis the First of Fraunce^ and Henry 
 the Eighth, kjng of England and of Fraunce, 
 passyng with communicacion.^' The same au- 
 thor gives a circumstantial account of the con- 
 versation that ensued between the monarchs, 
 which is too curious to be omitted. " When 
 the twoo princes were in the tente before re- 
 hersed, the French kyng said, ' My dere bro- 
 ther and cosy 11, thus farre to my paine have I 
 travailed to see you personally. I thynke verely 
 that you esteme me as I am, and that I maie to 
 you bee your aide ; the realmes and seignories 
 shewe the mighte of my persone/ ' Sir,^ said 
 the kyng of Englande, ' neither your realmes 
 nor other the places of your power is the matter 
 of my regard, but the stedfastnesse and loyal I 
 kepyng of promises comprised in charters be- 
 tweene you and me ; that observed and kept, I 
 never saw prince with my iyen that mighte of 
 
264 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 V. 
 
 my harte bee more loved. And for your love I 
 have passed the seas into the fardest frontier of 
 my reahne to se you presently^ the which dooy- 
 ing now gladdeth me/ And then were the two 
 kyngs served with a banket, and, after mirthe, 
 had communicacion in the banket tyme, and then 
 shewed the one the other their pleasure/' 
 
 This conference between the monarchs was 
 the signal for unrestricted communication be- 
 tween their followers. The English and the 
 French drank together, [a) and the entertain- 
 ment being concluded, Francis and Henry issued 
 from the tent, (6) and bidding each other fare- 
 wellj returned to their several quarters. 
 
 [a) " Ipocras was chiefe driiikie of plentie to all that wold 
 drinke." — Hall, f. Ixxvii. 
 
 {b) Hall describes, with laudable minuteness, the dress 
 and figure of the French king. *' I then well perceived tha- 
 biliment royall of the Frenche kyng ; his garment was a che- 
 mew of clothe of siluer culpond, with clothe of golde of da- 
 maske cantell wise, and garded on the bordours with the 
 Burgon bendes, and ouer that a cloke of broched satten, 
 with gold of purple coloure wrapped about his body tran- 
 uerse beded from the shoulder to the waste, fastened in the 
 lope of the first fold ; this said cloke was richely set with 
 pearles and precious stones. This French kyng had on his 
 hed a koyfe of damaske gold set with diamondes, and his 
 courser that he rode on was couered with a trapper of tissue 
 broudered with deuise, cut in fashion matell wise, the skirtes 
 were embowed and fret with frised worke, and knit with 
 cordelles and buttons tasseled of Turkey makyng, rames and 
 bedstall answerying of lyke woorke. And verely of his 
 persona the same Fraunces, the Frenche kyng, was a goodly 
 prince; stately of countenaunce, mery of chere, broune co- 
 loured, great iyes, high nosed, bigge lipped, faire brested 
 and shoulders, small legges, and long tele." 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 265 
 
 Oil the following day, the tournaments, which chap. 
 were to be held in honour of this meeting:, com- '■ — 
 
 menced. A fiekl had been prepared, round loumeys 
 which ditches were dug, and scatiblds erected *" ^^^^^^' 
 for the spectators. At one end was set up^ on a 
 lofty artificial mount, a hawthorn and a rasp- 
 berry bush, which were intended as the several 
 devices of the kinsrs of Eiioland and of France. 
 " On the right side of the held stood the queene 
 of England and the queene of Fraunce, with 
 many ladies. The same camp was railed and 
 barred on every ende strongly ; then was twoo 
 loclgyngs in the entry of the same fielde for the 
 twoo kjnges richely adorned, which were unto 
 them very iiecessarie, for therein thei armed 
 theim selves and toke their ease : also in the same 
 compasse was twoo greate sellers couched full of 
 wyne, which was to all menne as largess as the 
 fountain.'^ (a) 
 
 On the mountain where the trees stood, the 
 shields of the two kings were hung, and the 
 monarchs, at the head of their several companies, 
 engaged in the martial sports, and encountered 
 all comers " to passe the tyme from idlenesse.^' 
 These sports, diversified occasionally with mas- 
 querades, dances, and banquets, occupied several 
 days. The kings paid visits to the queens of 
 either nation ; but all their movements were re- 
 gulated according to the jealous precautions 
 which W olsey had devised. The irksomeness 
 of this system of etiquette was felt by every 
 
 [a] Hall, f. Ixxviii. 
 
266 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 V. 
 
 body, but no one had ventured to saggest the 
 expediency of breaking through it, mi til Francis, 
 whose disposition was frank and unceremonious, 
 put an end to it at once. He rose earlier than 
 usual one morning, bade two gentlemen and a 
 page, who were in attendance, to follow him, 
 and mounting his horse, he rode to Guisnes. 
 On the bridge, as he was entering the town, he 
 met the governor with a troop of two hundred 
 archers. " My friends/' he cried gaily, " I 
 make you all my prisoners. Shew me instantly 
 to the English king's chamber." The English- 
 men were astonished at so extraordinary a pro- 
 ceeding, and told him that the king had not yet 
 risen. Francis, without staying for their reply, 
 hurried on to Henry's lodging, and awakened 
 him by knocking loudly at his door. Henry, 
 who was as much pleased as surprised at this 
 proof of the French king's confidence, fell into 
 the humour of the adventure at once. " My 
 brother," he said, '^ you have played me a very 
 agreeable turn, and have taught me upon what 
 terms you and I ought to live together. I con- 
 fess that I am taken ; I yield myself your pri- 
 soner, and plight you my faith.'* He then 
 presented Francis with a collar of gold worth 
 15,000 angelots, [a) and begged him to wear it 
 
 (a) The angelot was a coin which was struck at Paris in 
 the reign of Henri VI. Its name was derived from the figure 
 of an ano:el holding the shields of England and France, 
 which was on the reverse of the coin. It was worth about 
 15 sous. — Gaillard, t. i. p. 271. 
 
(( 
 
 OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 267 
 
 for his prisoner's sake.'' Francis accepted chap. 
 
 the gift, and returned it by a bracelet of twice 
 its value. Henry was getting up, and Francis, 
 who insisted upon performing the office of valet 
 de chambre for him, helped him to dress. He 
 then returned homewards, and met upon the 
 road some of his followers, who had discovered 
 his absence, and who had felt considerable 
 anxiety in consequence of their not knowing 
 whither he had gone. Fleuranges, ^^ho was 
 upon terms of familiarity with the king% and 
 whose devoted attachment justified his address- 
 ing him without ceremony, told him plainly that 
 he thought he was a madman for doing what he 
 had done, and that although he was very glad to 
 see him back again, he wished the devil might 
 take the person who had advised him to so 
 strange a freak. " Nobody counselled it," re- 
 plied Francis. " 1 took care to ask no advice, 
 because I knew no one would give me that 
 which I had determined to follow." He then 
 amused his followers by relating to them, with 
 great pleasantry, the particulars of his adven- 
 ture, (a) Henry followed the exami3le which 
 Francis had set him on the following day. The 
 queens gave entertainments, and the tourna- 
 ments were renewed. The sports were, how- 
 ever, not wholly confined to those in which men 
 at arms alone could participate. Wrestling 
 matches were had, in which the English yeo- 
 manry excelled, and archery, in which Hem-y 
 
 (a) Mem. de Fleuranges, 273. 
 
268 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, displayed so much skill as to extort from the 
 
 '- — Frenclimen, ^vho were not disposed to praise 
 
 him, expressions of adaiiration. («) The two 
 kings also had a personal encounter^ in \\liich 
 Henry was worsted. They had retired to a tent 
 for refreshment, when Francis seized him play- 
 fully by the collar, and said, " Brother, 1 must 
 have a bout with you." They engaged, and 
 Francis^ although he was inferior to Henry in 
 strength, managed to throw him. Henry rose, 
 and would have renewed the contest, but the 
 more discreet bystanders, who saw it was likely 
 that such a sport might end by exciting real 
 anger, interfered and put an end to it by an- 
 nouncing the supper. 
 A treaty Thc tci'ms of thc treaty between the kings 
 Francis had becu agreed upon before they met, so that 
 enry. ^^^^ ^^^^ little to coufcr about. The provision 
 
 for the marriage of the dauphin of France with 
 the princess Mary was renewed. The otiier 
 stipulations were, that after payment by Francis 
 of the million of crowns agreed upon by the for- 
 mer treaty, he should pay to Henry an annual 
 pension of 1,000 livres ; that in case the dauphin 
 should become king of England by reason of 
 his intended marriage with the princess Mary, 
 the pension should be continued to Mary and 
 her heirs for ever. The differences between 
 England and Scotland \Aere to be submitted to 
 the arbitrement of the duchess d'Angouleme and 
 
 (a) Fleuranges says, *' He is a wondrous good and strong 
 bowman. It did one good to see him." — Mem., 277. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 
 
 Wolsey. (a) These provisions the kings mu- 
 tually ratified in the presence of each other. 
 The articles ^yere produced on either side, and 
 Henry having read those on the part of France, 
 began to read his own : " I, Henry, king of 
 England — I was going to add/' he said^ " and 
 of France; but, since you are present, I will 
 forbear, for I should say that which is not true/^ 
 On the 23d of June, Wolsey^ who would not 
 suffer so distinguished an occasion to pass with- 
 out having some share in the pomp which 
 abounded, sang " an highe and solempne masse" 
 before the royal personages and their followers 
 in a magnificent chapel which he had got built 
 in the course of the preceding night. A ban- 
 quet was then given, the splendour of which 
 seemed to surpass all that had gone before it ; {b) 
 and on the 24th of June^ " which was Sunday 
 and Midsomer day," the two kings took leave of 
 each other, [c) 
 
 {a) Rym. Feed., t. xiii. p. 719. 
 
 [b] *' To tell you the apparel of the ladyes, their rich at- 
 tyres, their sumptuous juells, their diversities of beauties, 
 and the goodly behaviour from day to day sithe the first meet- 
 ing", I assure you tea memies wittes can scace declare it." 
 — Hall, f. Ixxxii. 
 
 (c) Hall's account of this interview, and he was present at 
 it, was drawn up by Henry's command. Another journal 
 of the occurrences was also drawn up by order of Francis. 
 This last was published by Montfaucon in his "Monumensde 
 la Monarchie Fran^oise ;" together with a third narrative 
 by the marechal de Fleuranges. 
 
 Francis was so gratified with the splendour of this inter- 
 view that he ordered the cavalcade of the monarchs, at their 
 
 269 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 v. 
 
270 
 
 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 V. 
 
 Francis 
 appoints 
 Henry the 
 arbitrator 
 of any dif- 
 ferences 
 between 
 himself 
 and 
 Charles. 
 
 Henry re- 
 turns to 
 England. 
 
 The probability that differences might arise 
 between Francis and the emperor was so ob- 
 vious, that it had formed the subject of conver- 
 sations by the French and English ministers, 
 the former expressing a very natural desire to 
 know what part Henry meant to take in the 
 event of a war. The English ministers had de- 
 clared, and Henry had added his own assertion 
 to the same effect^ that he had determined to 
 remain neuter. He affected, on all occasions, 
 the character of an umpire, and his device of an 
 archer^ with the motto, '- whom I defend pre- 
 vails/' and another, in which he was represented 
 holding a pair of scales in one hand, and a 
 weight in the other, were intended to express 
 his intention of acting' as mediator and preserver 
 of the peace of Europe. Francis, who relied 
 upon the promises he had made, gave him a full 
 authority to settle all disputes between himself 
 and Charles. («) Immediately after parting with 
 Francis, Henry went to Calais, where he staid 
 until the 10th of July. On that day he pro- 
 ceeded to Gravelines, where Charles was, under 
 
 first meeting on horseback, to be carved in basso relievo on 
 five marble tables, and to be placed in front of the house of 
 the procureur general at Rouen, where they still remain. 
 Henry directed the interview, with its attendant circum- 
 stances, to be represented in a picture, formerly at Windsor, 
 but which, by the munificence of his late majesty, now or- 
 naments the meeting-room of the Society of Antiquaries. 
 Barklay, the black monk, who wrote " The Ship of Fools,'* 
 was engaged by Wolsey to supply the mottoes and devices 
 on the occasion. — Ellis, vol. i. p. 162. 
 (a) Ryiner, t. xiii. p. 748. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 271 
 
 the pretence of returning the visit which the chap. 
 
 emperor had paid him in England. Charles dis- ' 
 
 played upon this occasion that profound know- 
 ledge of human character of which he was so 
 great a master. He turned Henry's foible to 
 his own advantage, by offering to invest him 
 with a power similar to that which he knew 
 Francis had given him, and to make him the 
 arbitrator of any differences that might arise be- 
 tween them. He gained the haughty and rapa- 
 cious Wolsey by promising him all the weight 
 of his influence to secure him the papal crown 
 when it should become vacant, which the state 
 of Leo's health rendered it probable would hap- 
 pen at no distant day, and, by exciting the mi- 
 nister's ambition, spared his own money. The 
 result of the interview was, that he secured 
 Henry's assistance by preparing him to look 
 upon any contest that might ensue as the ag- 
 gression of Francis and an attack upon the 
 peace of Europe, of which he affected to con- 
 sider Henry as the preserver ; and thus, without 
 any expense, he obtained that for which Francis 
 had made so lavish an outlay in vain ; — as he had 
 before purchased the imperial throne and the 
 substantial aid of England for less than it had 
 cost his rival to make an empty display, from 
 which he reaped not the slightest benefit. 
 
 At the commencement of the year 1521, an 1521 
 accident happened which had nearly deprived de"nt^befaiis 
 France of her monarch, and removed from Francis. 
 Charles's path the greatest obstacle to the accom- 
 
272 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 V. 
 
 plishmeiit of his ambitious projects. The court 
 passed the Christmas at Romorentiii ; on the 
 Twelfth Nighty the count tie St. Pol had given 
 an entertainment;, at which the old custom of 
 choosing a Roi de la Feve was practised. The 
 kiuo- who was the very soul of mirth in his 
 jocund court, proposed that a party should go 
 and attack this mock monarch at the hotel of 
 the count de St. Pol. A formal challenge was 
 sent, and a defiance returned. The count de 
 St. Pol and his friends collected arms and am- 
 munition to repel their assailants, and their 
 weapons consisted of snow-balls, hard eggs^ 
 and baked apples. The fight was kept up with 
 great spirit on both sides ; at length, the ammu- 
 nition of the besieged was expended, and the 
 assaulting troops were forcing the doors. At 
 this moment one of the persons in the hotel very 
 imprudently threw a lighted firebrand from 
 one of the windows, which struck the king on 
 the head. The injury he received was so se- 
 rious, that for some days his life was despaired 
 of. It was generally reported that he was dead ; 
 and even those about him believed he had lost 
 his eye-sight. Francis displayed, upon this oc- 
 casion, that goodness of heart which commonly 
 distinguished him. He desired particularly that 
 no inquiry should be made for the person by 
 whom the brand had been thrown. It is alto- 
 gether my own fault, he said. I committed the 
 first follv : and it is fit that I should bear the 
 pain of it. [a) 
 
 (a) Mem. de du Bellay, 1. i. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. , 273 
 
 This accident sfave occasion to a change in the chap. 
 
 ~ O y 
 
 fashion. It had been for many years the cus- 
 
 tom to wear the hair extremely long, and the qu"nt 
 beard cjuite short. Francis, who had been themodT 
 obliged to have all his hair cut off in conse- beJdTili"^ 
 quence of the hurt he had received, adopted the France. 
 Italian and Swiss fashion of wearing his hair 
 short and his beard long, and continued this 
 habit during his life. It was, of course, fol- 
 lowed by his court, and soon came to be gene- 
 rally adopted, (a) 
 
 While these events were passing, the seeds of J^ll^^^fl^'f 
 that refori nation in religion which has since ^nation. 
 been the fostering parent of civil liberty and in- 
 tellectual improvement, had taken root and 
 ripened into maturity in Germany. Many 
 causes had combined to prepare the minds of 
 men for a revolution, which has been truly said 
 to be the greatest and most beneficial that has 
 happened since the publication of Christianity, [b) 
 The profligate lives of the Catholic clergy had in- 
 spired general distrust and contempt. Almost all 
 
 (a) The common people, who are slow to change their old 
 customs, continued the former practice of wearing their hair 
 and shaving their beards ; and members of the legal and 
 other grave professions did not adopt the change. It soon 
 became so much an exclusive distinction of their body, that 
 the celebrated Olivier de Duville, who was afterwards chan- 
 cellor, was refused admission to the sittings of the parlia- 
 ment in his office of maitre des requetes, unless he would 
 cut off his beard. The university of Paris, in 1534, inter- 
 dicted masters of arts from wearing their beards. 
 
 [/)) Robertson's Charles V., vol. ii. b. 11. 
 
 VOL. I. T 
 
274 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, tjjg writers who had distinguished themselves, had 
 *— taken occasion^ with more or less seriousness, to 
 
 censure the abuses which prevailed among the 
 professors. The severe Dante, and the gentle- 
 spirited Petrarch, had denounced them in terms 
 of the bittei'est reprobation^ and Boccaccio, with 
 his less able imitators, had brought the more 
 powerful and more popular force of ridicule to 
 bear against them. A general love of inquiry 
 had ensued upon the more general diffusion of 
 kno^^ ledge. The art of printing had enabled 
 the bolder spirits of the world to communicate 
 their sentiments and their discoveries. A more 
 enlightened and liberal course of study was 
 adopted, and the thinking part of mankind 
 thought no longer in vain, (a) Although, how- 
 ever, these circumstances had prepared the way 
 for the establishment of the Protestant Refor- 
 mation, it was to a cause purely accidental that 
 its first rise must be traced. 
 The sale of Quc of tlic most favouritc proiccts of Julius II., 
 
 indul- ^ , ... 
 
 gences. whosc vicws, notwithstaufling his violence, were 
 always of a magnificent kind, had been the erec- 
 tion of a large and splendid temple for the cele- 
 bration of the Christian religion in the capital 
 of the Christian world. To supply the funds 
 for building the cathedral church of St. Peter, 
 he published an indulgence, which he directed to 
 
 (a) The causes which prepared the way for the Reforma- 
 tion, are traced with great ability and minuteness by Mr. 
 Roscoe, in his Leo the Tenth, vol. iii. c. xv. ; and in Ro- 
 bertson's Charles the Fifth, vol. ii. b. 2, 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 275 
 
 )je sold throughout Europe. With the money ^";^^- 
 
 which was thus produced, the church was be- '- — 
 
 gun. When Leo X. assumed the papal dig- 
 nity, he continued with great zeal the plan 
 which his predecessor had originated ; but the 
 funds faihng, he resorted to the same means by 
 which tliey had formerly been supplied, and 
 issued another indulgence — the sale of which he 
 directed to be carried on as usual. 
 
 It may be expedient here to explain the na- ^^ ^^ir. 
 ture of these indulgences. It is one of the ^vhichthe 
 doctrines of the Romish church, that the Saviour sioned. 
 
 of the world, by his meritorious passion — the 
 Virgin Mary, by her immaculateness — the Saints, 
 by their penitential sufferings and by their mar- 
 tyrdoms — have accumulated an inexhaustible 
 treasure of good ^vorks, which is placed at the 
 disposal of the head of the Christian church. 
 The nature of these superabundant merits is 
 such, that, being applied to believers after the 
 pain eternal has been remitted by the sacra- 
 ment of penitence, they have the power of ex- 
 piating that temporal pain which either in this 
 world, or by purgatory in that which is to 
 come, must be endured by sinners in order to 
 satisfy the divine justice. While this practice 
 remained merely a dogma of the church, it was 
 no more mischievous than many other supersti- 
 tions ; but the avarice of the popes had long 
 turned it to a source of profit. Indulgences 
 w^ere at first only granted as the reward of per- 
 sons who, by their piety and devotion, were 
 
 t2 
 
276 
 
 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 V. 
 
 CHAP, thought to have entitled themselves to such a 
 - privilege. In the eleventh century, Urban II. 
 granted them to individuals who undertook the 
 crusade ; they were next granted to such per- 
 sons as hired a soldier to perform that service, 
 and soon came to be extended to those ^rho con- 
 tributed money for the performance of any pious 
 work. The transition thence to their being sold 
 for money and being made an article of com- 
 merce^ was not very violent; and although suc- 
 cessive councils of the church had expressly for- 
 bidden the corrupt practice, it was too lucrative 
 to be abandoned. 
 
 When Leo published his indulgence^ another 
 abuse had been added to those which attended 
 the sale. The desire of procuring ready money 
 induced him to grant commissions to persons in 
 various districts, who paid him a gross sum, 
 and who afterwards made a profit by retailing 
 them to those who had piety or superstition 
 enough to become purchasers. One of these 
 commissions had been sold to Albert, elector of 
 Mayence and archbishop of Magdeburg, who 
 employed, as his agent in the distribution of 
 the indulgences, a Dominican friar^ named 
 Tetzel.(«) He had already distinguished him- 
 
 (a) " As the form of these indulg^ences, and the benefits 
 which they were supposed to convey, are unknown in Pro- 
 testant countries, and little understood at present in several 
 places where the Roman Catholic religion is established, 
 I have, for the information of my readers, translated the 
 form of absolution used by Tetzel : — ' May our Lord Jesus 
 Christ have mercy upon thee, and absolve thee by the merits 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 277 
 
 self by his successful discharge of a similar em- chap. 
 
 ployment which had been entrusted to him by '- — 
 
 the Teutouic knights ; [a) and although he was a 
 man of notoriously dissolute life, his coarse but 
 popular eloquence and his profound knowledge 
 of the lo^^ er orders of the people, who were the 
 chief purchasers of hiswares^ recommended him 
 to the elector. Tetzel eno-ao-ed the assistance 
 of the brethren of his order^ and at fairs and 
 
 of His most holy passion. And I, by his authority, that of 
 his blessed apostles Peter and Paul, and of the most holy 
 Pope, granted and committed to rae in these parts, do ab- 
 solve thee, first, from all ecclesiastical censures, in whatever 
 manner they have been incurred ; and then, from all thy 
 sins, trangressions, and excesses, how enormous soever 
 they may be, even from such as are reserved for the cogni- 
 zance of the holy see, and as far as the keys of the holy 
 church extend. I remit to you all punishment which you 
 deserve in purgatory on their account, and I restore you to 
 the holy sacraments of the church, to the unity of the faith- 
 ful, and to that innocence and purity which you possessed 
 at baptism ; so that when you die the gates of punishment 
 shall be shut, and the gates of the paradise of delight shall 
 be opened ; and if you shall not die at present, this grace 
 shall remain in full force when you are at the point of death. 
 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
 Ghost,'" — Seckend. Comment, lib. p. 14. Robertson, Chas. 
 v., vol. ii. b. 2. 
 
 [a] A bull for the sale of indulgences had been some 
 time before granted to the order of the Teutonic knights, 
 to raise funds for a crusade against the Muscovites. The 
 Muscovites, though of the Greek church, were Christians ; 
 but as the Teutonic knights chose to make a war upon 
 them, and as they were known to be a barbarous people, 
 this was thought a sufficient ground for granting the indul- 
 gence. 
 
278 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 V. 
 
 markets they preached up the advantages which 
 were to be derived from the sale of these in- 
 dulg-ences^ in terms which^, however well they 
 might be adapted to the understandings of their 
 hearers, were disgustingly impious and ab- 
 surd, [a) These Dominicans set up shops for 
 the sale of their bulls in taverns, and spent a 
 
 [a] Even the most zealous Catholics scarcely venture to 
 deny, that the zeal of the sellers of indulgences carried them 
 beyond the bounds of propriety. " On ne peut nier," says 
 Florimond de R^mond, " qu'il n'y eut de Tabus, de I'ordure, 
 et de la vilenie en ces avares questeurs." They said, that 
 persons being possessed of one of the Pope's bulls, could 
 never be damned, however guilty ; for that the Pope could 
 deliver souls out of hell itself. Some of them carried their 
 assertions to a pitch of indecency and blasphemy, which 
 appears almost incredible. The indulgences, they soid, 
 were so efficacious, that they could absolve a criminrl, how- 
 ever deep was his guilt, etiamsi matrem Domini stuprasset, 
 — Perizonius, Durand, Hist, du Seizieme Siecle, 1. v. n. 18. 
 "1 have absolved more sinners by my indulgences," said 
 Tetzel, " than ever St. Peter converted Gentiles by his 
 preaching." — Durand, 1. v. n. 5. Dr. Robertson has given 
 some extracts from the exhortations by which the friars 
 promoted the sale of their commodities : " Lo ! the heavens 
 are open ; if you enter not now, when will you enter > For 
 twelve pence you may redeem the soul of your father out of 
 purgatory ; and are you so ungrateful that you will not 
 rescue your parent from torment ? If you had but one coat 
 you ought to strip yourself instantly, and sell it, in order to 
 purchase such benefits, &c." These, and many such ex- 
 travagant expressions, are selected out of Luther's works, 
 by Chemnitius, in his Examin. Concilii Tridentini, apud 
 Herm. Yonder Hardt. Hist. Liter. Reform., pars iv. p. 6, 
 The same author has published several of Tetzel's dis- 
 courses, which prove that these expressions were neither 
 singular nor exaggerated. — Chas. V., vol. i. b. 2. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 279 
 
 part of the money which they wrung- from the chap. 
 ignorance of the people in the most unseemly ' 
 debaucheries. The abuse in a short time grew 
 to so great a height^ that all decent persons 
 were scandalized, and all the truly religious 
 shocked at the disgraceful excesses which en- 
 sued. 
 
 The Au"fustine friars were the t>Teat rivals of ^he au- 
 
 ~^ ~ gustines 
 
 the Dominicans in Germany, and were amons: ^'}^ ^°""' 
 
 '' '-' means 
 
 those who openly and ably reprobated the dis- quarrel. 
 graceful practices of the latter fraternity. It is 
 not improbable, that some portion of jealousy, 
 mingled with their dislike, and that they were 
 as much picjued at the ascendancy which the 
 Dominicans exercised over the minds of a large 
 part of the community, as they were scandalized 
 at their impiety and profligacy. Staupitz, the 
 vicar of the order of Augustines, was a man of 
 extraordinary merit. He had been selected by 
 that wise and liberal prince, the elector of Sax- 
 ony, who had declined the proffered title of 
 Emperor, to preside over an university which 
 he had recently founded at W ittemherg, and 
 Stanpitz, by a natural partiality, had filled the 
 professors' chairs principally with the brethren 
 of his own order. Among them was a young 
 and ardent man, the professor of theology, and 
 in him Staupitz found an apt instrument for 
 checking and exposing the Augustines, and for 
 accomplishing the design which the less enthu- 
 siastic principal wanted the resolution to carry 
 into effect. 
 
280 
 
 C H A P. 
 V. 
 
 Luther. 
 
 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 Martin Luther was born at Eisleben, in the 
 province of Mansfeldt in Saxony, on the 10th 
 of November, 1483. His parents, notwith- 
 standing they were of a very humble condi- 
 tion in life, had contrived to procure for him 
 a learned education. He was not originally 
 destined for the church, and the accident which 
 induced him to enter it, gave a proof of that 
 active and fervent sensibility for which he was 
 afterwards so remarkable. He was walking^ 
 with a friend, to whom he was tenderly at- 
 tached, when a thunder storm came on, and 
 the lightning struck his companion dead at his 
 side. Luther, who was of a melancholy and 
 imaginative temperament, was so deeply im- 
 pressed by this event, that he suddenly resolved 
 to renounce the world. He entered the church 
 at the age of two-and-twenty, notwithstanding 
 the urgent entreaties of his friends to the con- 
 trary, and soon distinguished himself not less by 
 his learning than by his exemplary devotion. 
 He applied himself to the study of theology 
 with a rare assiduity, and his progress was the 
 more rapid and successful, because he carried 
 to it a profound knowledge of the Platonic sys- 
 tem of philosophy, of which he was an ardent 
 disciple, and which had begun to supersede the 
 vain subtleties of the Aristotelian school. He 
 acquired too a thorough knowledge of the scrip- 
 tures, which, strange as it may appear, formed 
 at that time no necessary, or even usual part of 
 a churchman's studies. He had accidentally 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 
 
 281 
 
 CHAP. 
 V. 
 
 Ijeen led to the perusal of the sacred writings^ 
 and they furnished him, in the controversies 
 he was afterwards engaged in, with an irre- 
 sistible weapon. It was the reputation which 
 his acquirements had so justly gained for him 
 that induced Staupitz to procure his election, 
 first to the professorship of philosophy, and 
 afterwards to that of theology in the new 
 university ; and the manner in ^vhich he dis- 
 charged the duties of those offices proved to 
 the principal that he would be a most efficient 
 coadjutor in repressing the offences which the 
 Dominicans were daily committing. 
 
 Luther was at this time thirty -five years of ^u^^^r^ 
 ao'e. The success which had attended his ca- the cause of 
 
 O • p 1 • 1 • ^^ Augus- 
 
 reer had fostered that vanity, oi which, in tines, and 
 company with many noble qualities, he had no against the 
 inconsiderable share. He had acquired a firm duigences. 
 confidence in his own powers, was fond of dis- 
 putation, and knew from experience that he 
 possessed a prompt, indefatigable, and con- 
 vincing eloquence. The disgust which the 
 misconduct of the Dominicans had inspired in 
 his severe and pure mind, he was not slow 
 to express, nor was he very delicate in his 
 choice of terms of reproof. He first inveighed 
 from the pulpit against the immoral conduct 
 and the mischievous doctrines of the sellers of 
 indulgences. He then wrote to the archbishop 
 of Mayence, invoking his interference to sup- 
 press practices disgraceful to the church and 
 subversive of true religion. Finding that this 
 
282 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. \y^^ j^Q effect^ and urged at once by his own 
 
 ^ impetuous temper^ and by the suggestions of 
 
 hisVropo^- Staupitz, he composed ninety-five brief propo- 
 sitions, sitions, which he read in the church of Wittem- 
 berg^ on the eve of All Saints, in the year \b\7 , 
 and afterwards affixed them against the door of 
 the churchj for the purpose of inviting discus- 
 sion, [a) He had also many copies of them 
 printed and dispersed throughout Germany, 
 challenging disputants. The main object of 
 the proposition was to prove that the power of 
 the Pope extended only to remit such penances 
 as he had the power to inflict, and that good 
 Christians obtained pardon of their offences by 
 sincere contrition alone, without which no ab- 
 solution was eflectual. These propositions were 
 not absolutely heretical, (6) and all of them 
 were brought forward in the shape of doubts 
 and suggestions, rather than as attacks ; but 
 that which at once made them highly popular 
 in Germany, and formidable to the advocates 
 of corruption, was, that they censured, in terms 
 of bold and uncompromising reprobation, the 
 rapacity and dissoluteness of the collectors of 
 
 (a) The title of these propositions was — ** Amore et Stu- 
 dio elucidcmdcE Veritatis^ Hsec subscripta themata dispu- 
 tabuntur Wittembergae, presidente R. P. Martino Luthero, 
 eremitano Augiistiniano, artium et theologize niagistro, ejus- 
 dem ibidem ordinario lectore. Quare petit ut qui non pos- 
 sunt verbis presentes, nobiscum disceptare, agant id Uteris 
 absentes. In nomine Domini nostri Jesu Christi. Amen. 
 M.D.XVII." 
 
 [h] Lingard's Hist, of Euglan^l, vol. vi. p. 12G. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 
 
 283 
 
 CHAP. 
 V. 
 
 ene- 
 mies. 
 
 the money produced by the indulgences, and 
 the avarice and profligacy of the court of Rome. 
 
 Tetzel, who was principally concerned in siUo.i'sare 
 the attack which Luther had made upon his by ws^'^ 
 traffic, replied to his propositions by a hun- 
 dred and six counter-propositions; and then 
 exercised his authority of inquisitor by con- 
 demning Luther's publication to the flames. 
 The friends of Luther retorted by an act of 
 similar absurdity, and burnt Tetzel's proposi- 
 tions in the public square of Wittemberg. 
 
 The vice-chancellor of Ingoldstadt, Johannes 
 Eccius, wrote a short and bitter invective 
 against the reformer, which proved nothing 
 more than that tlie vice-chancellor was a mas- 
 ter of very abusive epithets. Silvestrio Prierio^ 
 the licenser of books in the apostolical palace^, 
 resorted to the same course with no better suc- 
 cess, having first tried to excite the anger of 
 the Pope, who replied to hi^n, that brother 
 Martin was a person of great talent, and that 
 the affair was nothing more than a squabble 
 among friars, (a) Prierio consoled himself for 
 his disappointment by asserting in another 
 work, that the authority of the Pope was su- 
 perior to both the councils and canons, and 
 that indulgences granted by him were as eflS- 
 cacious as the collectors asserted them to be. 
 Hostraten, another of Luther's enemies, went 
 
 (a) *' Che fra Martino aveva bellissimo ingegno, et che 
 coteste erano invidie fratesche," — Bandello, par iii. novel 25. 
 
284 
 
 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 V. 
 
 Leo sum- 
 mons Lu- 
 ther to 
 Rome, 
 
 but after- 
 wards de- 
 legates Ca- 
 jetan to in- 
 quire into 
 his alleged 
 heresy, 
 who sum- 
 mons Lu- 
 ther to 
 Augsburg. 
 
 farther^ and in plain terms advised Leo to burn 
 so obstinate and contumacious a heretic. 
 
 Leo, who was little disposed to interest him- 
 self about a matter which he thouoht too insio- 
 nificant, as well as too remote to be in any 
 degree dangerous, at first contented himself 
 with writing to Staupitz^ desiring him to ad- 
 monish his refractory brother ; but when at 
 length the violence of his enemies had roused 
 the professor to such a degree of anger, as made 
 him keep no terms with them^ Leo found him- 
 self compelled^ by the remonstrances of Maxi- 
 milian, as well as of others, to summon Luther 
 to Rome, there to answer the charge of heresy, 
 which was now loudly imputed to him. The 
 protection which the elector of Saxony openly 
 extended to the reformer, induced the pontiff 
 however to change his intention in this respect ; 
 and before Luther could have obeyed his sum- 
 monSj if he had ever intended to do so, he de- 
 legated to the cardinal Cajetan the task of in- 
 quiring into Luther's alleged delinquencies, and 
 ordered the investigation to take place at Augs- 
 burg. Luther obeyed this last injunction, and, 
 having taken the precaution of procuring a 
 safe-conduct from the emperor, made his appear- 
 ance at Augsburg in humble guise, having per- 
 formed his journey on foot, («) not without some 
 apprehensions for his personal safety, but pre- 
 
 («) " Vtni, igitur, pedester et pauper in Augiistam." Luth. 
 ill pi sef. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 285 
 
 pared with a courageous and constant spirit to chap. 
 
 abide the event, (a) The cardinal Cajetan re- '- — 
 
 ceived him civilly, but with an appearance of 
 cold scorn, which neither suited Luther's tem- 
 per, nor was becomino- the occasion. The re- Luther's 
 
 A ' *-" . , , . . interview 
 
 former entered into a conference with him, in witiithe 
 
 , - , cardinal. 
 
 which he maintained temperately, but reso- 
 lutely, the propositions he had before pub- 
 lished. The cardinal then found it neces- 
 sary to change the haughtiness of his manner; 
 he perceived tliat Luther was so much a master 
 of the subject in dispute^ and so able to main- 
 tain his opinions, that little was to be gained 
 by a controversy with him. He therefore af- 
 fected to exhort him, as his spiritual superior, 
 to recant the errors of his doctrines, and to sub- 
 mit to the Pope's authority. Luther requested 
 time to consider, and on the following day pre- 
 sented himself before the cardinal _, accompanied 
 by four imperial senators^ a notary^ and a wit- 
 ness, in whose presence he delivered a written 
 protest, wherein he denied that his doctrines 
 
 (a) The touching- letter which Luther wrote to his friend 
 Melancthon, on this occasion, displays him in an amiable and 
 interesting light. " Nihil novi aut miri hie agitur, nisi quod 
 mei nominis rumore civitas plena est, ut omnes cupiunt 
 videre hominem tanti incendii Herostratum. Tu age virum, 
 sicut agis, et adolescentes recta dore. Ego pro vobis et illis 
 vado immolari, si Domino placet. Malo perire, et quod unum 
 mihi gravissimiim est, etiam vestra conversatione dulcissinia 
 cdrere in seternum, quam ut revoeem benedicta, et studiis op- 
 timis perdendis occasio fiam, apud nos, ut insapientissimos, 
 ita acerrimos literarum et studiorum hostes." — Luth. Op., 
 t. i. p. 103. 
 
28(> THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 V. 
 
 CHAP, contained any imputation against the just power 
 of the churchy or any thing contrary to religion^ 
 to the Scriptures, or to reason. He admitted 
 the possibility that he might have erred, and 
 said he was willing to be convinced if he could 
 be shewn to be wrong; but in the mean time he 
 offered to prove the truth of his belief, and to 
 maintain the reasons on which it was founded, 
 against all opponents. («) The cardinal, who 
 was bent upon gaining a triumph over the re- 
 former, endeavoured to engage Staupitz, and 
 Lintz, who was a confidential friend of Lu- 
 ther's, to persuade him to make a fuller sub- 
 mission, and they succeeded so far, that Luther 
 was induced to write the cardinal a letter, in 
 which he admitted that the heat of the contest 
 had led him to use terms disrespectful to the 
 pontiff, and promised to refrain from censuring 
 the sale of indulgences for the future, provided 
 his enemies were restrained from calumniating 
 and abusing him. Thinking now that he had 
 staid long enough at Augsburg, and discover- 
 ing, or fancying he discovered something in the 
 demeanour of the cardinal which betokened a 
 treacherous intention towards him, he deter- 
 mined to depart. He first however drew up a 
 sort of appeal from Leo misled and misin- 
 formed, to Leo when he should be better ac- 
 Cjuainted with his case, and having caused it to 
 be affixed in the great square of Augsburg, in 
 the night-time, he refired to Wittemberg for the 
 
 [a) Pallavicini, c. x. p. 79. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 
 
 287 
 
 CHAP. 
 V. 
 
 tlier 
 ithdraws 
 
 security of his person, which he believed to be 
 in danger, (a) His flight was turned by his 
 enemies to his disadvantage. The cardinal 
 wrote to the elector^ entreating him to abandon 
 a person who was unworthy of his protection, J^^ 
 and ao^ainst whose heresies the thunders of the fromAugs. 
 
 *^ , burg. 
 
 church were directed ; but the elector, who 
 knew Luther's virtues and his worth,, replied 
 dryly, that he was not disposed to deprive his 
 university of so great an ornament. 
 
 Upon the death of the emperor Maximilian, 
 the elector, who then became one of the tempo- 
 rary regents of Germany, openly extended his 
 protection to Luther ; and the other regent^ the 
 elector palatine, was scarcely less favourably dis- 
 
 (a) It seems that the cardinal was authorized, and had in- 
 tended either to make Luther recant his errors, or to throw 
 him into prison. Cajetan unquestionably treated him with 
 injudicious contumely. A conversation, which Luther had 
 with a secretary of the cardinal before he had obtained his 
 passport, seems to favour the belief that it was intended to 
 arrest him. When Luther refused to go to Augsburg- until 
 Tie should have obtained the emperor's safe-conduct, the 
 secretary asked him what good he thought a safe-conduct 
 would do him ; or whether it was likely that the elector 
 would take up arms for him in case it should be violated. 
 Luther replied, *'that was the last thing he should wish 
 for.'* " Where then would you hide yourself if it was de- 
 termined to seize you?" asked the secretary; " under the 
 vault of heaven," replied Luther. *' And what would you 
 do," said the secretary, " if you had the Pope and the car- 
 dinals in your power?" " I would treat them," answered 
 Luther, "with all honour and respect." — Hayne's Life of 
 Luther, p. 19. Durand, Hist, du Seizi^me Siecle, 1. v. 
 n. 28. 
 
288 
 
 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 Miltitz is 
 sent to 
 inquire 
 into the 
 charges. 
 
 CHAP, posed towards him. The mild disposition of 
 
 '- — Leo, and his belief that the whole affair would 
 
 soon expend itself^ induced him to turn a deaf 
 ear to those who urged him to pursue the Ger- 
 man heretic,, as they called him, to a signal 
 condemnation and punishment. As however he 
 was compelled by their importunities to take 
 some step towards checking the disorders which 
 prevailed among the friars^ he sent a Saxon 
 gentleman, named Miltitz, who he knew would 
 be personally agreeable to the elector, for the 
 purpose of inquiring into the charges against 
 Luther. Miltitz, in accordance with the Pope^s 
 directions, treated Luther gently, and even with 
 respect, (a) He went further, and having learnt 
 that the conduct of Tetzel deserved censure, he 
 did not hesitate to express, in the presence of 
 Luther, his opinion of the Dominicans' prac- 
 tices, and this, it is said, by the Catholic wri- 
 ters, with so much severity, that Tetzel took it 
 to heart, and died of the mortification which it 
 occasioned him : a story which, considering Tet- 
 
 [a] Durand, 1. vi. n. 8, says, that Miltitz employed him- 
 self on his journey in collecting such information as he 
 could, relative to the subject of his mission, and that he 
 even enquired of the servants in the inns at which he lodged, 
 what they thought of the court of Rome. The answers 
 were such as convinced him that the Pope's authority and 
 his person were held in little estimation in Germany. He 
 said to Luther, in one of their conversations, '' If I were at 
 the head of five-and-twenty thousand men, I should not be 
 able to take you to Rome. Throughout my journey hither I 
 have found among the people three enemies to the Pope, for 
 one who is friendly to him." 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 289 
 
 zePs life and character, seems at the least hiirhlv char 
 improbable. ' ' 
 
 Miltitz pursued^ during the whole of his ne- 
 gociations with Luther, a course so moderate 
 and conciliatory, as to be highly displeasing to 
 the more violent of the reformer's enemies. 
 They had frequent meetings, at which it was 
 said, that Miltitz indulged to excess in the Ger- 
 man habit of drinking, to which Luther was 
 not averse, and, in his cups, disclosed so much 
 of the practices of the Roman court, as con- 
 firmed the latter in his opposition. At length 
 Miltitz, being compelled to do something in re- 
 spect of his mission, summoned the superiors of 
 the Augustine brotherhood, that they might en- 
 deavour to influence their refractory member to 
 submission. Luther affected to yield, and pro- 
 mised to write to the Pope. He performed this 
 promise to the letter ; and availing himself of 
 the information he had obtained from Miltitz, 
 he addressed to Leo an epistle full of biting sar- 
 casms and ingeniously concealed reproaches, 
 which were made the more poignant by the tone 
 of affected respect and veneration which per- 
 vaded the letter. Under the pretence of pitying Luther 
 the condition of one whom he seemed to consider honfeir" 
 as amiable and well disposed, and who was com- PopJ/*'^''^ 
 pelled to occupy so corrupt a seat as that of the 
 Roman pontiff*, he brings in long array all pos- 
 sible accusations against the profligacy and dis- 
 soluteness of the clergy,, and calls upon Leo to 
 flee away from them as snares by which the great 
 
 VOL. I. u 
 
290 
 
 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 V. 
 
 1519. 
 The new 
 emperor 
 takes no 
 part in the 
 dispute. 
 
 Carlos- 
 
 tadius 
 
 espouses 
 
 Luther's 
 
 doctrines. 
 
 enemy of mankind had entrapped the souls of 
 many of his predecessors. 
 
 Charles the Fifth was elected to the imperial 
 throne, and his elevation was owing, as he and 
 all the world knew, to the elector of Saxony. 
 Luther's hopes and his consideration rose with 
 this ; for he could not but believe that the au- 
 thority of his first patron and firm friend would 
 be increased, and that his protection would now 
 be a sufficient security against all the world. 
 Charles however appeared disposed to take no 
 part in an affair, the importance of which was 
 not yet apparent. The Pope contented himself 
 with publishing a bull, («) in which he endea- 
 voured to restore the authority of the indul- 
 gences which Luther had decried. But it was 
 now in vain. In vain the jacobins preached 
 and resorted to all the arts by which they had 
 formerly won the minds of the people ; nobody 
 listened to them, nobody bought their indul- 
 gences, the bull was disregarded, and Luther 
 continued to write and preach with inexhausti- 
 ble energy, and almost miraculous eflfect. 
 
 He was now no longer the single champion 
 of the doctrines he so boldly promulgated. 
 Andrew Bondestein, archdeacon of Wittemberg, 
 and doctor in theology, who is better known by 
 his assumed name of Carlos tad ius, had conceived 
 a fanatical admiration of Luther, in consequence 
 of which he had been long engaged in a con- 
 troversy with Eccius. He at length defied him 
 
 («) Of the 9th of November, 1518. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 
 
 291 
 
 CHAP. 
 V. 
 
 to a public dispute, which was held by permis- 
 sion of George, duke of Saxony, cousiii of the 
 elector, in his castle at Leipsig. The duke, die 
 members of his council, the magistrates, the 
 university, and a great concourse of odier per- 
 sons were present at this theological duel. The 
 fame of the contending parties, and the presence 
 of Luther, who came in person to watch over 
 the conduct of his champion, gave an extraor- 
 dinary interest to the display. Carlostadius 
 carried on the dispute for several days, until his 
 strength failed under the exertion and excite- 
 ment; and then Luther took up the weapon 
 which he had relinquished. Eccius, who was 
 exhausted before, found himself no match for 
 the vigorous reformer. The dispute terminated 
 without any decision, and, as is usual on such 
 occasions, each party claimed the victory. 
 
 Eccius hastened to Rome, and, fostering the.^^^p"^-, 
 
 ' ■' ~ ashes abull 
 
 ano^er which Leo could not but feel at Luther^s against 
 
 c) ^ ^ Luther 
 
 insolent letter, he procured him to publish a and his 
 
 .-IP /» writings. 
 
 bull, (a) in which he stigmatized forty-one of 
 the propositions which were contained in Lu- 
 ther^s works as false, scandalous, or heretical, 
 and pronounced him excommunicate if he did 
 not recant his errors within sixty days ; prohi- 
 bited him, and all who held his opinions, from 
 preaching ; ordered Luther's books to be burnt, 
 and himself to be seized and sent to Rome. 
 The Pope at the same time wrote to the elector, 
 entreating him to induce Luther to retract, or, 
 
 [a] 15lh June, 1520. 
 
 u2 
 
292 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, jf j^g g^jU refused, to throw him into prison. 
 
 '- — The letter produced no effect on the elector, and 
 
 the bull, when published in Germany, excited 
 the indignation of the people, and increased the 
 dishke and contempt they had long begun to feel 
 for the holy see. The jealous anger of Eccius 
 would not permit this bull to remain inactive, 
 and under pretence of carrying it into execu- 
 tion, he procured Luther's works to be burnt at 
 Cologne, Louvain, and other places. Luther 
 was not slow to retaliate ; and having caused a 
 pile to be erected without the walls of the city of 
 Wittemberg, he repaired thither, accompanied 
 by an immense quantity of people, in whose 
 presence he deposited several volumes of the de- 
 cretals of the Popes, the writings of Eccius, and, 
 to crown the whole, a copy of Leo's bull. He 
 then set fire to the pile, exclaiming, " because 
 ye have troubled the holy of the land ye shall 
 be burnt with eternal fire.'' (a) In his sermons 
 he recommended a similar method of purifying 
 the papal see as the only effectual one ; and from 
 this moment war was openly declared between 
 him and the Pope. 
 Luther en- Lutlicr, who kucw liow esscutial it was to 
 gain the his pcrsoual safety, as well as to the successful 
 SmSes. promulgation of his doctrines, that he should 
 secure the protection of the emperor, employed 
 every possible means to gain Charles. He 
 wrote him a letter, and in a book which he pub- 
 lished about this time, he called upon the em- 
 
 (ft) Pallavicini, cap. xxii. Lutheri Op., t. ii. p. 320. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 
 
 293 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 V. 
 
 peror to protect Germany against the usurped 
 dominion which the Pope unjustly claimed a 
 right to exercise. Erasmus endeavoured to 
 prepare the mind of Cliarles in favour of Lu- 
 ther^ while the enthusiastic and eccentric Ulric 
 von Hutten, by his satirical and popular wri- 
 tings^ exerted himself more successfully a\ ith 
 the free and thinking people of Germany, [a) 
 
 Leo, who at length saw the necesiity of ^,g^^,^j;^ 
 makins: a more earnest attempt than he had is sent to 
 
 D 1 \V orms to 
 
 hitherto done to stop the progress of this bold i^*;^."^^^^^ 
 inveigher against his authority^ sent Girolamo 
 Aleandro, {b) a man whose talents and character 
 
 [a] Pallavicini, cap. xxiii. Seckeadorf. Comment., 1. i. 
 sec. 29. 
 
 [b) This extraordinary personage was one of the authors 
 of the " Epistolse Obscurorum Virorum." He was a soldier 
 by profession, and distinguished himself by his valour in 
 many engagements, and in several private quarrels to which 
 the irritability of his temper frequently exposed him. The 
 emperor Maximilian conferred upon him the title of Poet Lau- 
 reate, in consequence of which he had his portrait engraved 
 and prefixed to his works, where he was represented in ar- 
 mour, and crowned with a laurel wreath. He manifested his 
 hostility to the Pope by some whimsical and severe publica- 
 tions, in which he exposed the system of encroaching and ra- 
 pacious policy which had been long practised by the eccle- 
 siastical government towards Germany. He adopted Luther's 
 opinions, and became one of his warmest partisans. To aid 
 the cause in which he had enlisted, he published Leo's bull 
 against Luther with interlineary and marginal remarks, in 
 which he handled his holiness with so much bitterness and 
 severity that Leo required the elector of Ma) ence to send 
 him to Rome in irons. The elector thought himself obliged 
 to remonstrate with him, and intimated that his books were 
 so scandalous that they ought to be burnt. Upon this he is 
 
294 
 
 CHAP. 
 V. 
 
 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 qualified him well for such a task, to the impe- 
 rial court, for the purpose of inducing Charles 
 to exert his power against Luther. A diet of 
 the empire had been summoned to meet at 
 Worms in January^, 1521, and thither Aleandro 
 repaired. He here made an harangue, not less 
 remarkable for its violence than for its elo- 
 quence. He insisted that the matter to which 
 he called the attention of the diet w as not a 
 question as to the power which the church 
 ought to exercise, or as to the nature of the 
 privileges which it claimed ; but that the fun- 
 damental doctrines of religion had been at- 
 tacked by the bold innovator whom he de- 
 nounced, and particularly the derisions of the 
 council of Constance, which were held to con- 
 tain the fundamental principles of the constitu- 
 tion of the German church, (a) He concluded 
 a speech of three hours by a request that Luther 
 might be condemned to the death which he 
 had deserved, or that he might be sent in 
 chains to Rome, there to receive the sentence 
 of the Pope ; and so powerful was the impres- 
 sion he had made on the diet, that some mea- 
 sure injurious to Luther might probably have 
 been acceded to but for the prompt interference 
 of his staunch friend, the elector of Saxony. 
 He mildly but effectually represented that if 
 they complied w ith the proposition of the papal 
 
 said to have written to the elector a short epistle, in which 
 he said, '* If you burn my books, I will burn your towns." 
 («) Pallavicini, t. i. pp. 124, 167. 
 
c n A p. 
 
 V. 
 
 OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 295 
 
 nuncio they would condemn a man unheard, 
 and without^ in flict^ having ascertained whe- 
 ther he was or was not guilty of that which 
 was laid to his charge ; and he therefore sug- 
 gested that I.uther should be summoned to ap- 
 pear before the diet. Aleandro opposed this 
 ill vain. Charles himself wrote to Luther re- 
 quiring his presence, and sent his letter by a 
 herald, who was also the bearer of a safe-con- 
 duct, and a promise of personal immunity. 
 The elector wrote to him to the same effect, 
 and the passport was confirmed by the princes 
 through whose territory Luther had to pass, 
 
 Luther received these summonses by the em- L"t^er is 
 peror's herald, and prepared immediately to to the diet. 
 obey them, in spite of the remonstrances of his 
 friends, who reminded him that the imperial 
 safe-conduct had been no protection to John 
 Huss, or to Jerome of Prague, both of whom 
 had been shamefully put to death under pre- 
 texts similar to those now alleged against him. 
 " If there were as many devils in Worms as 
 there are tiles on the house-tops I would go 
 without fear,^' was the intrepid reply of the 
 reformer, (a) He set out on his journey with 
 the herald who had been sent for him, and ac- 
 companied by a large escort of his friends. The 
 herald had been enjoined to prevent him from 
 preaching by the way ; but this man had em- 
 braced the reformed doctrines, and permitted 
 his ward to harangue the people at Erfurt, and 
 
 (a) Luther. Op., t. ii. p. 412. 
 
293 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, other towns on his road^ in all of which the 
 
 '- atfection and respect his character and conduct 
 
 had inspired were openly manifested. 
 Hisrecep- jjc cntcrcd Worms accompanied only by 
 
 t'on at . . T • 1 1 1 
 
 Worms, eight horsemen^ having prudently dismissed all 
 of his friends but these. It was in vain^ how- 
 ever, that he sought to shun publicity. As 
 soon as his arrival was known^ he was sur- 
 rounded by crowds more numerous than those 
 which had assembled at the entrance of the em- 
 peror. The populace greeted him with loud 
 acclamations ; the princes of the empire visited 
 him at his lodgings^ and paid him those marks 
 of respect which his firmness and rare talents 
 entitled him to, (a) and proved that they felt 
 the importance of the stand which he, obscure 
 and noteless but for his mighty project, was 
 making against the corruptions which had too 
 long enslaved and disgraced their nation. 
 
 the diet"*^^ ^" ^^^ following day Luther was admitted to 
 the diet, and John ab Eyk, (fi) a jurisconsult, 
 and the chancellor of the archbishop of Treves,, 
 who had been appointed to conduct the pro- 
 cess, began it by reading the titles of his works, 
 and asking him if he was the author of them. 
 Luther replied that he was, and that, provided 
 no one had altered them, he avowed their con- 
 tents. He was then asked if he was prepared 
 
 (a) Seckendorf, 1. i. p. 156. Luther. Op,, t. ii. p. 414. 
 
 (b) Although this person bore the name of Eccius, the 
 Latinised form of his own, he must not be confounded with 
 Luther's early antagonist, Eccius, the vice chancellor of 
 
 Ingoldstadt. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 
 
 to retract such parts of them as had been con- 
 demned at Rome. To this he replied, tliat as 
 the matters in question involved points of di- 
 vine faith, he was not prepared on the sudden 
 to reply to this question, w^hich required serious 
 deliberation. Some discussion ensued upon this: 
 it was said that, as he was a doctor of theology, 
 he ought at once to be ready to reply on a sub- 
 ject on which it was his duty to be well in- 
 formed, and that being the author of the works, 
 he could not but be familiarly acquainted with 
 their contents. At length, however, time was 
 given him to the next day to consider his an- 
 swer, which it was then intimated to him would 
 not be received in writing. The coolness of 
 Luther, and his determination not to be en- 
 trapped into a hasty reply, which might have 
 been turned either to his personal disadvantage, 
 or to the disparagement of the faith he professed, 
 was misinterpreted by his adversaries, who 
 thought it proceeded from fear, (a) Some of 
 them said it was clear that he possessed none 
 of the divine spirit ; and Charles himself, whose 
 object was to secure the assistance of the Pope 
 in the prosecution of his designs, whispered some 
 of the persons near him that such a man as 
 Luther would never persuade him to be a 
 heretic, [b) 
 
 (a) Pallavicini, 1. i. c. 26 and 27. Sleidanus, 1. iii. 
 
 (6) On this first interview, some circumstances occurred 
 which deserve particular notice. Whilst Luther was passing 
 to the assembly he was surrounded with immense crowds, 
 and even the roofs of the houses were almost covered with 
 
 297 
 
 C II A P. 
 V. 
 
298 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. Luther appeared once more before the diet, 
 
 '- — after a night spent in deliberate meditation. 
 
 fs^econ?'^^ The question was repeated to him^ and no want 
 d"wJanour ^^ firmiiess was now discovered in his reply. 
 there. jj^ g^jj ^j^^^ |-^jg writings had been on various 
 
 subjects, some of them relating to the moral 
 duties of mankind and to practices of piety ; 
 these he supposed his accusers did not wish 
 him to retract; that others were against the 
 corruptions of the court of Rome and the de- 
 fective discipline of the church, and these he 
 never would retract ; that in some of his works 
 he had been induced to reproach, in strong 
 terms, the advocates and defenders of the abuses 
 against which he inveighed^ and believing, upon 
 a cooler consideration, that he had used words of 
 greater acrimony than suited his peaceful pro- 
 fession, for this faulty which he confessed, he 
 expressed his sorrow. He disclaimed the cha- 
 racter of a saint ; admitted that his judgment 
 was fallible ; said he was ready to defend what 
 he had written, and to correct any part of it 
 which he should be convinced, by fair argu- 
 ment, was contrary to the sacred Scriptures. 
 
 spectators. Among these, and even when he stood in the 
 presence of the diet, he had ihe satisfaction to hear frequent 
 exhortations addressed to him to keep up his courage, to 
 act like a man, accompanied with passages from scripture, 
 *' Not to fear those who can kill the body only, but to fear 
 him who can cast both body and soul into hell ;" and again 
 — ^' W^hen ye shall stand before kings think not how you shall 
 speak, for it shall be given to you in that same hour." — 
 Roscoe's Leo X., vol. iv. p. 34. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 299 
 
 Without this he refused to retract any portion 
 of his works, and ended this part of his reply by 
 quoting the words of Gamaliel ; [a) '' If this 
 counsel, or this work, be of men, it will come to 
 nought ; but if it be of God, ye cannot over- 
 throw it, lest haply ye be found even to fight 
 asrainst God.^^ He then broke out into a strain 
 of fervent and dignified eloquence, in which he 
 cautioned the young monarch against condemn- 
 ing the Word of God, and bringing upon his 
 realm the discords and miseries which Pharaoh 
 and the kings of Israel had provoked by similar 
 conduct. 
 
 The interrogator urged him to give a distinct 
 and unequivocal reply to the question which 
 had been put to him ; whether he would or 
 would not retract such parts of his writings as 
 had been condemned. Luther answered calmly 
 and distinctlv, that if his conscience were con- 
 vinced, he would retract ; but that he would not 
 do so merely because he had been condemned 
 by the Pope, or the councils which were, like 
 him, fallible ; and feeling that the peril in 
 which he was placed, had now assumed its most 
 menacing form, he added, in German, having 
 before spoken in Latin, '' Upon this 1 stand ; 
 I can do no otherwise. God help me ! Amen.^^ 
 His conduct upon this memorable occasion has 
 been variously represented, the Catholic writers 
 afiecting to consider that he managed his defence 
 timidly and weakly ; — his own adherents, and 
 
 (a) Acts of the Apostks, v. 38. 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 v. 
 
under ban. 
 
 300 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, posterity has confirmed their opinion, beheving, 
 
 '. on the contrary^ that he displayed magnanimity^ 
 
 presence of mind^ and abilities of the highest 
 order, when, in the presence of his powerfid and 
 malignant foes, he calmly and triumphantly vin- 
 dicated himself and his doctrines. 
 Charles Charlcs's part had been resolved upon before 
 
 decides 
 
 against Luthcr had appeared, and he was not a man, 
 places him whcu his iutcrcst counselled him to a particular 
 line of conduct, however iniquitous, to be de- 
 terred from it by any human feelings of admira- 
 tion for the man he had determined to sacrifice, 
 or to be convinced, even by the most irresistible 
 arguments, against his will. He presented a 
 paper to the diet on the following day, drawn up 
 with his own hand, in which he denounced the 
 opinions promulgated by Luther, whom he con- 
 temptuously called " an individual friar, misled 
 by his own opinion,^' and, regretting that he 
 had not before brought him to judgment, he 
 ordered him to depart the court, and, according 
 to the conditions of his safe-conduct, not to 
 preach, write, or in any other manner attempt 
 to stir up the people. He added, that he had 
 determined to proceed against him as a manifest 
 heretic, and required the diet to consider the 
 measures which they ought to take in conjunc- 
 tion with him for this purpose, [a) 
 
 Several attempts were made after this to in- 
 
 [a) The whole of this royal document, which is no less 
 curious for its style than for its sentiments, has been given 
 by Mr. Roscoe in the Appendix to his Leo X., vol iii. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 
 
 301 
 
 duce Luther to retmct ; but he stedfastly resisted ^ "Z^^- 
 
 the iinportunities of liis mistaken tVieuds, with '- — 
 
 the same firmness he had displayed against the withdraws 
 menaces of his foes. At lengthy on the 26th of wi^ms. 
 May, Charles pubHshed an imperial edict against 
 hiin^ putting him under ban of the empire, or- 
 dering his works to be burnt, and forbidding the 
 pubhcation of any writings on doctrinal mat- 
 ters, without the previous license of the ordi- 
 nary. Charles was urged to take more certain 
 measures for preventing Luther's repeating his 
 offence, and it is probable that if there had been 
 no other restraint upon the inclination, which the 
 emperor had so openly avowed, he would have 
 listened to these suggestions ; but Luther's po- 
 pularity induced him to pause. He was sur- 
 rounded by friends in the city, and reports were 
 afloat, that a body of four hundred German no- 
 bles had undertaken to provide by force, if it 
 were necessary, for his safety. Accompanied 
 by the imperial herald, who was charged with 
 the care of seeing him safely to Wittemberg, in 
 pursuance of his passport, Luther departed from 
 Worms, followed by a troop of friends, whose 
 presence was a greater security to him than the 
 emperor's protection. At the end of his third 
 day's journey he returned his safe-conduct into 
 the hands of the herald, and dismissed him. He 
 proceeded to Eisenach, where he dispensed with 
 the further attendance of his friends, and having 
 entered the Thuringian forest, near Altenstein, 
 he requested the greater part of the few who 
 
302 
 
 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 V. 
 
 Isseizedon 
 his return 
 to Wittem- 
 burgbythe 
 elector of 
 Saxony, 
 and placed 
 for safety 
 in a castle 
 oftheWar- 
 teburg, 
 
 where he 
 writes in 
 favour of 
 the Refor- 
 mation, 
 and trans- 
 lates the 
 New Tes- 
 tament. 
 
 remained with him to go before to Waltershau- 
 seii, at which town he was to sleep^ and prepare 
 his lodgings. Soon after they were gone, a party 
 of men disguised, and wearing masks, rode up 
 to him, dragged him violently from his horse, 
 placed him on one of their own, and carried him 
 off. This was a contrivance of the elector of 
 Saxony, who had ordered two of his officei's thus 
 to provide for Luther's safety, and to convey 
 him to one of his castles in the Warteburg, with- 
 out acquainting him with which of them, that 
 he might reply to the emperor with a safe con- 
 science, that he did not know where Luther 
 was, if Charles should ask him. In this retreat, 
 which, in allusion to the island whither the 
 apostle John was banished, Luther called his 
 Patmos, he employed himself in keeping up, 
 by the influence of his pen, that spirit of refor- 
 mation which he could no longer openly and 
 personally foster. Here he translated the New 
 Testament, and began his church homilies, be- 
 sides many tracts which were rapidly published, 
 and eagerly distributed throughout Germany. 
 Among them were liis treatises on the abuse of 
 masses, against monastic vows and auricular 
 confession, the exposition of the Psalms, and 
 the declaration of the Magnificat. 
 
 The mystery which had attended Luther's dis- 
 appearance, had its share in keeping up the 
 interest which his name had excited. At fii-st it 
 Avas believed lie had been assassinated by emis- 
 saries of the court of Rome ; a corpse, stabbed 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 303 
 
 in various places, had been found at the bottom chap. 
 
 of a mine, and being' believed to be Luther^ a '. — 
 
 popular tumult ensued at Worins^ in which the 
 lives of the papal nuncios were in danger. The 
 appearance of his writings, however, satisfied 
 his friends that he was still alive; and while 
 they looked anxiously for his appearance among 
 them they greedily devoured all that appeared 
 in print under his name. It was however by the 
 publication of his version of the New Testa- 
 ment which he had made in his native tongue, 
 that he struck the most effectual blow at the 
 papal authority. The perusal of that part of the 
 Holy Scriptures roused the attention of the 
 great mass of the people, and by contrasting 
 the pure and simple doctrines of Christianity^ as 
 revealed by the word of God, with the odious 
 abominations practised by professors of the Ro- 
 mish church in Germany, made every honest 
 and thinking man a champion for the defence of 
 that reformation which the monk of Wittemberg 
 had so gloriously begun. 
 
CHAP. VI. 
 
 Jealousy between Francis and the Emperor — The 
 grounds of their differences — State of Spain — The 
 discontent of the people presents a favourable oppor- 
 tunity for attacking JSTavarre — Francis sends an 
 army under Lesparre to assist Henri d'Albret — The 
 campaign in Navarre — Ignatius Loyola — Navarre 
 gained — And lost — Lesparre defeated and made pri- 
 soner — Charles complains of Francis's conduct — De 
 la Mark reconciles himself to Francis -^Defies and 
 attacks the Emperor — Who accuses Francis of en- 
 couraging his enemy — Proposal to refer their diffe- 
 rences to Henry VIIT, — Charles invades the French 
 frontier — Takes Mouzon and besieges Mezieres — 
 Francis prepares to repel the attack — The gallant 
 defence of Mezieres by Bayard — The siege is raised 
 — Success of the French troops — Francis has an op- 
 portunity of defeating the Emperor in person, lohich 
 he neglects — He deprives the Constable Bourbon of 
 his right of leading the vanguard of his army — 
 Bonnivet leads an army to the assistance of the 
 king of Navarre — His rapid success — Conference at 
 Calais agreed on — Proceedings of the Commissioners 
 — The Conference broken up — Bonnivet's further suc- 
 cess in Navarre — Affairs of Italy — The discontent of 
 the Pope against Francis — Cruel and sanguinary 
 government of Lautrec in the Milanese — He attacks 
 VOL. I. X 
 
306 CONTENTS OF CHAP. VI. 
 
 Reggio in person, in the absence of Lautrec, tvhich 
 determines the Pope to enter into an alliance with 
 the Emperor — Lescun prepares for defence, and 
 calls upon Lautrec to resume his government — Hav- 
 ing obtained a promise of a supply of money from 
 Francis for payment of his troops, he returns — Prom 
 ceedings of the armies-^Lautrec misses an advan- 
 tageous opportunity of attacking — The Swiss desert 
 from his army — He is defeated at Rebec — Driven 
 out of Milan, and loses the whole of the State, loith 
 the exception of Cremona — Prancis^s anger against 
 his Lieutenant at this event — The death of Leo X, 
 by poison. 
 
30: 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The personal dislike and jealousy which 1521. 
 Francis and Charles entertained towards each, hluveen 
 rendered it almost impossible, considering their anTthe 
 aspiring tempers^ that they could long pursue ^'"p^'^"''* 
 their respective careers,, without a hostile en- 
 counter. There were besides several political 
 differences between them ; each fraught with 
 such cause of quarrel, as might easily be made 
 the pretext for a war, 
 
 Charles had promised to do rio:ht to Henri The causes 
 
 1 /» TVT of their dif- 
 
 d^Albret^ the young king of Navarre, respect- ferences. 
 ing bis paternal dominions, vthich the unprin- 
 cipled Ferdinand had wrested from his father ; 
 but as yet no steps had been taken to perform 
 that promise ; and Francis was bound, by his 
 plighted word, to assist the deposed king in 
 the prosecution of his claim. The rights of 
 the French king, on Naples too, formed a sub- 
 ject, which required adjustment, and Charles 
 still remained in possession of that kingdom, and 
 had evinced no disposition to abandon any part 
 of it. The duke of Gueldres, who had been a 
 faithful and serviceable ally to France, com- 
 plained loudly of the injustice which he expe- 
 rienced from the emperor, and implored the 
 succour of France, to enable him to defend 
 
 X 2 
 
SOS , THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, himself. Charles, on the other hand^ was not 
 
 without causes of complaint, which he alleged 
 
 against Francis. He pretended that the duchy 
 of Burgundy, which had been usurped by Louis 
 XL, against the right of the princess Mary, had 
 descended to him^ and he therefore demanded 
 restitution. In his character of emperor too, 
 he claimed to have a sovereign power over 
 Milan,, of which Francis could have no title 
 otherwise than as his feudatory, but of which 
 the French king had never condescended to 
 ask the investiture ; and he frequently inveighed 
 against Francis^ for affording protection to his 
 enemies, and for secretly encouraging the trou- 
 bles which prevailed in his Spanish dominions. 
 The state S|3ain iudccd appeared at this time in a state 
 P^'"' Qf jnost dangerous fermentation. The admi- 
 nistration of the government had been con- 
 fided by Charles to Adrian^ the cardinal bishop 
 of Tortosa, who had been his preceptor, and 
 who had since more usefully served him, by 
 watching over his interests at the court of Spain, 
 during the latter years of the reign of Ferdi- 
 nand. He was a Fleming by birth^ a circum- 
 stance which made him disliked and distrusted 
 in Spain, and the lowness of his origin shoke d 
 the pride of the haughty Spanish aristocracy, 
 who saw, with disgust and scorn, the son of a 
 barge-builder at Utrecht raised to a station of 
 dignity and power, which they thought could 
 only be properly filled by one of their own 
 privileged class. The louver ranks of the peo- 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 309 
 
 pie caught the discontent which was felt by chap. 
 
 the nobiHty, and loud murmurs, followed by '. — 
 
 open insurrection, testified the unpopularity of 
 their king and his representative. On the even- 
 ing of the day before the proclamation of 
 Charles, and his distracted mother^ as sove- 
 reigns of Aragon and Saragossa, the vice chan- 
 cellor, Avho was attached to the king's interests, 
 was attacked in the streets, and narrowly esca})ed 
 assassination. This affair took place in the 
 presence of a concourse of people, who, instead 
 of seizing, facilitated the escape of the assassin. 
 When the kind's absence relieved them from 
 the little restraint they had before felt, they 
 broke out into open revolt. Tlie greater part 
 of the nobility, terrified at the violence of the 
 spirit they had themselves raised, withdrew 
 from the cities, and the insurrection remained 
 almost wholly a popular one. It began at 
 Valladolid, and spread widely and rapidly. 
 A league, called the Santa Junta, was formed, 
 into which the inhabitants of the principal 
 cities entered, and at the head of it was placed 
 the bishop of Zamora, a dissolute and tur- 
 bulent priest, and Don Pedro de Giron, and 
 Don Juan de Padilla ; men ^^ ho w ere as weak in 
 executing as they had been rash in devising 
 their dangerous project. The rebels took pos- 
 session of the castle of Tordesillas, and pre^ 
 tended to justify their proceedings by carry- 
 ing them on in the name of the maniac queen 
 \^ho resided there. At first, tliey announced 
 
310 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, only a design of excluding the Flemings from 
 
 '. the offices to which, as it was thought, they 
 
 had been unjustly appointed ; but growing bol- 
 der by success, they attempted to effect the 
 cruel project of marrying the unhappy queen 
 to Ferdinand, son of the late king of Naples. 
 He, however, refused to concur in this expe- 
 dient, which would have given a new monarch 
 to Spain ; for Charles's right to reign was only 
 in consequence of his mother's inability. The 
 Flemish ministers, and their dependants, were 
 so much alarmed at the peril in T^hich they 
 were placed, that they were ready to enter into 
 any teiTns that were proposed to them ; and at 
 every submission >\hich they made, the Junta 
 became more exacting, and more insolent. 
 Charles's influence seemed almost extinguished. 
 His viceroys^ of Castile and Aragon, exerted 
 themselves as well as they were able to repress 
 the tumult ; but against an armed and united 
 population their utmost efforts were soon li- 
 mited to defensive operations. They were 
 without ammunition or artillery ; the whole 
 strength of the country was in the hands of the 
 rebels, and the misrule and confusion, which 
 are naturally attendant upon civil commotions, 
 prevailed almost unchecked throughout Spain. 
 The king A juncture more favourable than was thus 
 resolvent? prcseuted for the king of Navarre to attempt to 
 theTell- regain his kingdom, could hardly be conceived. 
 kuwom!^ He earnestly entreated Francis to lend him such 
 assistance as would enable him to conmience an 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 
 
 311 
 
 attack. Some of the discontented in Spain had C"^^- 
 
 . VI. 
 
 written to Francis, requesting him to let Henri ! — 
 
 d*Albret enter Navarre, which they assured him 
 must prove an easy conquest, since all the troops 
 which had garrisoned that province were with- 
 drawn by the cardinal governor^ for his own 
 safety, to the interior of Spain, [a) 
 
 The inhabitants of Navarre^ also impatient of 
 the tyranny under which they were lield^ called 
 loudly for assistance from him whom they con- 
 sidered their rightful monarch ; (6) and thus 
 Francis had many plausible inducements^ be- 
 sides the jealous resentment which he felt to- 
 wards the new-made emperor^ for attempting 
 to w rest from him this frontier kingdom^ which 
 was a powerful security to his realm of Spain. 
 He determined to comply with the request of 
 Henri d*Albret ; but to save appearances, or- 
 dered the war to be carried on in the name of 
 that prince, and that his own should not appear. 
 
 An armv under the command of Lesparre^ Francis 
 
 ^ 1 ^^1 lends him 
 
 one of the brothers of the countess de Chateau- an army 
 
 , I I . , command- 
 
 briant, through w^hose hands the highest court ed by Les- 
 
 parre. 
 
 [a] Pet. Mart. Angler., Epist. 721. 
 
 {b) The people of Navarre sent a requisition to Henri 
 d'Albret, dated the 25th of June, 1521, calling upon him to 
 vindicate his own rights, and to rescue them from the usurp- 
 ed dominion which was exercised over them. Their epistle 
 ended with the following emphatic terms : " Sire, paroissez 
 seulement ; aussitot vous verrez jusqu'aux pierres, aux mon- 
 tagnes, et aux arbres, s'armer pour votre service." — MSS. 
 de Bethune, No. 8496, fol. 10. BiWiotheque du Roi, apud 
 Gaillard, t. i. 
 
312 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 GHAP. favours were now distributed^ marched towards 
 
 '. Navarre. The most briUiant and rapid success 
 
 attended the first efforts of this general, who, to 
 no mean military skill, added a most romantic 
 courage. He proceeded without interruption to 
 The siege Pampeluua. The inhabitants of the city wel- 
 w!™^^ comed him with open arms, but the citadel held 
 out ; and although the viceroy of Navarre, the 
 duke de Najarra, found it impossible to send a 
 force sufficient to check the progress of the 
 French army^ the desperate valour of a young 
 officer, who assumed the command of the garri- 
 son, sufficed during several days for the defence 
 of this important place. This soldier, whose 
 name was afterwards to occupy so important a 
 place in the history of these and the subsequent 
 Ignatius times, was Ignatius Loyola^ the founder of the 
 Loyola, celebrated and mischievous order of the Jesuits. 
 When at leugth he was forced, by the unanimous 
 wishes of his companions, to a capitulation, which 
 his uncompromising spirit scorned, he insisted 
 upon being present when the terms were to be 
 settled, and finding the demands of the French 
 more imperious than he thought could be ho- 
 nourably acceded to^, he broke up the confe- 
 rence, and returned to the citadel, determined 
 to be buried in its ruins, rather than yield it 
 discreditably. The attack was then resumed 
 by the French, and Ignatius^ in leading an as- 
 saultj had one leg broken by a cannon-shot, and 
 the other crushed by a falling stone. With 
 him sunk the hopes of the defeuders of the ci- 
 
soner. 
 
 OP FRANCIS THE FIRST. 313 
 
 tadel ; Pampelima was surrendered, but the chap. 
 desperate resistance of the youn^ enthusiast won ^^' 
 the respect of the assailants^ who treated him 
 with the greatest attention, and sent him in a 
 litter to his family-seat of Loyola. This advan- regS7ed!' 
 tage, important in itself, was still more so in its 
 results ; the whole kingdom followed the exam- 
 ple of Pampeluna, and in less than a fortnight 
 all Navarre was regained. 
 
 If Lesparre had joined caution to his courage, Lesparre 
 he might have secured the advantage he had and defeat. 
 gained ; but his temerity leading him to pene- made"pri- 
 trate into Spain^ the nobility of Castile were 
 alarmed, and roused the people from their do- 
 mestic rebellion, by representing to them the 
 danger to which the whole nation would be ex- 
 posed if this attack of France should not be 
 repelled. They hastily combined their forces^ 
 and marched to Logrogno, which Lesparre had 
 madly attempted to besiege ; drove away the 
 French army, weakened as it was by licentious- 
 ness and want of discipline, pursued them beyond 
 Pampeluna^ and came to an engagement in the 
 plain of Scjuiros, where the Spanish infantry 
 proved their excellence by utterly routing the 
 invaders. Lesparre was doomed to experience 
 the pains of captivity, as well as the disgrace of 
 a defeat. His courage, whicli was always of a 
 too impetuous kind, partook in this engagement 
 of the fury of despair ; he saw that all was lost^ 
 and probably with the determination not to sur- 
 vive his disgrace, he gave no further orders to 
 
314 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, the troops, but rushed into the thickest fight, 
 
 '. courting death from the hands of the Spaniards. 
 
 Even this poor consolation was denied him : lie 
 was assailed on all sides, and received so many 
 blows from a mace, that his casque was bat- 
 tered and crushed into his face, and he lost his 
 sight for ever. The slaughter was immense. 
 With Lesparre were taken St. Colombe, his 
 lieutenant, and several other leaders ; but many 
 more were killed on the field, the great propor- 
 tion of which were Navarrese or Gascons, who 
 had kept up the fight after all reasonable chance 
 of victory had long departed. Thus, in less 
 Navarre is tinic tliau had sufficcd him to gain Navarre, 
 ^"^** Lesparre had shamefully lost the whole of it, 
 
 with the exception of St. Jean Pied de Port. 
 Charles Altliougli tlic enterprise on Navarre had in- 
 
 oHvLn-^ dicated plainly enough the spirit by which 
 ferenc^e.^"^' Fraucis was actuatcd, still the just pretensions 
 of the king of Navarre, as well as the obligation 
 which Francis was under to aid his attempt, 
 sheltered the king from the charge of having 
 provoked a war. Some letters had however been 
 found when Lesparre was made prisoner, which 
 were said to shew a determination on the part of 
 Francis to attack Charles, and that he had made 
 use of Henri d'Albret's name only to justify the 
 aggression. The emperor did not fail to make 
 an advantageous use of these letters. To the 
 Spaniards he communicated them, to shew the 
 necessity of their abandoning all domestic dis- 
 cord for the purpose of eflecting their common 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 315 
 
 security against so formidable a foe^ and to the ^"ap. 
 
 PopCj and the king of England^ he sent them^ 1- 
 
 in proof of the accusation he brought against 
 Francis^ of being' bent upon disturbing the peace 
 of Europe, and of gratifying his ambition at the 
 expense of his neighbours. (^/) They had the 
 effect of producing' the impression he desired ; 
 but events were at hand which were to fan the 
 smouldeiing sparks of discord into flame, and 
 to prove, much more unequivocally than the 
 emperor's representations^ Francis's hostile de- 
 termination. 
 
 Robert de la Mark, the lord of Sedan, was the Kobert de 
 owner of the duchy of Bouillon. A quarrel had reconciled 
 long subsisted between the prince de Chimay 
 and the baron d' Emeries^ respecting the small 
 town of Hierges, in Ardenne, to which they 
 severally laid claim^ and which the peers of the 
 duchy had decreed to belong to the prince. 
 D'Emeries, who had assisted Charles in his elec- 
 tion by his money and his influence,, obtained as 
 a recompence, permission to bring an appeal to 
 the emperor^ against the decision of the peers. 
 De la Mark^ who claimed to hold his duchy, 
 independent of the power of the emperor^ com- 
 plained of this infraction of his privilege, and of 
 being treated w ith neglect by Charles ; and he 
 at once oflfered to renew his former friendship 
 and engagements with Francis. His loss had 
 been too keenly felt not to make his re-adhesion 
 welcome. The duchess d'Angouleme loaded 
 (rt) Le P. Daniel, t. vii. p. 435. Petr. Martyr. Epist. 727. 
 
316 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 . VI. 
 
 the lady of La Mark with civilities^ the influence 
 of the gallant Fleu ranges was exerted to con- 
 firm his father ^s inclination, who paid a visit to 
 the king at Romerentin, where the consequences 
 of his wound still detained him^ and a perfect 
 reconciliation was effected between them. The 
 command of his old troop, and the payment of 
 his accustomed pensions^ were readily offered to 
 de la Mark ; and Francis believed, not with- 
 out reason, that^ in gaining the assistance of so 
 powerful and active a noble, and one too w hose 
 domains being on the frontier^ would serve him 
 as an effectual banier against any attack w hich 
 might be made against him in that quarter^ he 
 strengthened himself no less than he weakened 
 the emperor, (a) 
 Defies and ^^ 1^ Mark was not a man to endure pa- 
 frlfrini^^ ticutlv ^ wi'ono' Hkc that which the emperor 
 
 emperor. ..' o ir 
 
 had inflicted upon him. With an audacity which 
 seemed perfectly ludicrous, this feudal baron sent 
 a defiance to the emperor, who was then in the 
 diet at Worms, threatening him with war, (6) 
 and proved that his menaces were not without 
 meanings by laying siege to the emperor's city 
 of Virton, in the Luxembourg. 
 
 (a) Belcar., 1. xvi. Mem, de du Bellay, 1. i. 
 
 {b) Fleuranges, in his Memoirs, states this somewhat dif- 
 ferently from the general body of historians, who suppose 
 the defiance to have been addressed to the emperor himself. 
 Fleuranges says, that he added a personal defiance on his own 
 part to that of his father, and that they were both addressed 
 to the Lady Margaret of Austria, as Regent of the Low Coun- 
 tries, who sent to Worms to apprize the emperor of the fact. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 317 
 
 Charles could have no reason to fear so power- chap. 
 less a foe. He sent the count of Nassau to chfis- '- — 
 
 tise his insolence, by devastating his domain, compiSns 
 a commission which the count performed with o°Eng- "^ 
 a ferocious cruelty, which was at once oppo- ^^"'^^ 
 sed to the practices of war and revolting to 
 humanity. He dispatched also ambassadors to 
 the king of England, to whom he affected to 
 complain of the infraction of the peace which he 
 alleged had taken place under the influence of 
 the French king, and another to Francis himself, 
 for the purpose of learning whether he counte- 
 nanced de la Mark's attacks. The vanity of 
 Henry was flattered by this mark of deference^ 
 and he earnestly remonstrated with Francis upon 
 the insolence of de la Mark's proceeding ; but at 
 the same time he expressed an opinion to the 
 emperor that the cause of quarrel was not enough 
 to justify a war. (a) He took this occasion for Henry pro- 
 exhorting them both to appoint a conference at Conference 
 Calais, whither he purposed to send Wolsey as ^ 
 his own minister, for the purpose of settling 
 the differences between them. Francis replied 
 to Charles's embassv bv discountenancino;- the 
 lord of Sedan's proceeding, and gave a proof of 
 his sincerity by enjoining de la Mark instantly 
 to lav down his arms. De la Mark obeved, in 
 the certainty that the emperor would not then 
 keep up the hostility ; and as soon as he had 
 deprived himself of the means of defence, the 
 
 [a] The correspondence on this subject is in the 3ISS. 
 Cotton, Cal. D. 8. 
 
318 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, count of Nassau took advantage of his position 
 — - — to pursue his attack with redoubled ferocity. 
 De la Mark was obliged to sue for a truce, 
 which he obtained ; but the emperor made so 
 good a use of the opportunity which it afforded 
 Charles in- hiui, that, upoii its cxpiration, he was enabled 
 France, to scizc thc wholc of thc lord of Sedan^s terri- 
 tory, and immediately afterwards marched a part 
 of his forces upon the French frontier. 
 
 Francis could not endure this proceeding either 
 patiently or safely. He sent to the emperor for an 
 explanation of his intentions^ and received for an- 
 swer an assurance that he sought and meant only 
 to punish de la Mark, and had no hostile inten- 
 tions against France ; the falsehood and insin- 
 cerity of which reply was proved by the count 
 of Nassau passing the Chers^ and laying siege to 
 and takes thc Frcncli towu of Mouzou . {a) The moment 
 Mouzon. Yi^^ now arrived which had been wished for on 
 both sides^ although neither monarch had thought 
 it advisable to avow his real desires. Francis 
 burned for an opportunity of convincing the elec- 
 tors of Germany that they had done him injus« 
 tice in preferring Charles's claims to his; and 
 Charles wished to convince them that they had 
 chosen an emperor who was as able as he was 
 willing to protect their interests, and uphold his 
 own glory. They nevertheless, however, conti- 
 nued to appeal to Henry VHI., whose alliance 
 and support each of them wished for, and wliich 
 
 («) Sleidan. Comment., 1. iii. 
 
OP FRANCIS THE FIRST. 319 
 
 they sought to gain by pretences to moderation, chap. 
 
 which Avere contrary to their intentions, and '. — 
 
 belied by their conduct. 
 
 Francis, however, soon found that he could Francis 
 place little reliance upon the fair offers which ^aratTons* 
 were made him from England. Charleses su- Imperors^ 
 perior skill in diplomacy _, or, as may be more ^"^"^ * 
 fairly surmised, his larger promises to the rapa- 
 cious and aspiring prelate who directed the Eng- 
 lish councils, gained Wolsey to his interests. 
 The mediation of the English king Francis dis- 
 covered was proffered only to put him off his 
 guard, and he had akeady given it as his opi- 
 nion, that de la Mark's conduct deserved pu- 
 nishment, and that, as the emperor had not 
 attacked France, he had done nothing of which 
 Francis could justly complain. This latter event 
 however had now happened, and the French king 
 was free to act upon it. Although, therefore, 
 he consented to the proposed conference, he de- 
 termined to rely singly on his own resources in 
 a conflict which he saw was inevitable, and 
 which he had little inclination to avoid, even if 
 he might. He set on foot the army which he 
 had been preparing, and which he disposed so 
 as to cover the points on which he had most rea- 
 son to expect an attack. The influence of the 
 countess de Chateaubriant had secured to the 
 marechal de Lautrec the government of the 
 Milanese ; the defence of Champagne was com- 
 mitted to the duke d^Alen^on ; the duke de 
 Vendome assumed the government of Picardy; 
 
320 
 
 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 VI. 
 
 and the king's favourite^ the admiral Bonnivet, 
 marched to Guyenne. 
 uhiltegld Upon the frontier of Champagne the war was 
 fen'dedb ^^^'^^ ^^pt up at first. MouzoH was taken by 
 Bayard, the Imperial troops^ and having thus gained an 
 entrance,, they attacked Mezieres, which was ex- 
 tremely weak, and very ill supplied with men 
 and provisions^ but which was yet well de- 
 fended, for Bayard commanded the garrison. 
 His name acted like a spell upon the most gal- 
 lant spirits in France. Not only his own troops 
 felt the utmost confidence in his presence, but 
 some of the most enterprising of the F^-ench chi- 
 valry flocked to a place which they knew must 
 be the scene of glory. Young Montmorenci^ 
 who was ambitious of the honour of serving 
 under him, repaired to Mezieres with his troop^ 
 and several other leaders^ of higher rank than 
 his, hastened to join him with their forces as 
 volunteers. The count Nassau, whose army was 
 large and well appointed, summoned the seem- 
 ingly defenceless place to surrender, and upon 
 Bayard^s indignant refusal, (a) prepared to take 
 a signal vengeance upon those whom he had 
 already marked for his victims. The besieging 
 forces were so disproportioned to the weak 
 state of the place, that some of the trops in the 
 garrison resolved not to share the desperate 
 
 (a) "Tell hira who sent you," i^eplied Bayard to the he- 
 rald, ^' that if ever I quit alive a place which my master has 
 entrusted to my care, it shall be over a bridge of my ene- 
 mies' corses.*' 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 321 
 
 enterprise of a defence, and, in spite of the threats ^ "*^ ^• 
 
 and entreaties of their commanders, two wliole ' 
 
 companies deserted in a body throngh a breach 
 which the enemy's artillery had made in the wall. 
 Bavard, far from beino- disconcerted at an event 
 which might haveprodnced conseqnences of the 
 utmost mischief to his garrison, summoned the 
 remainder of his troops, and coolly congratulated 
 them on being rid of a set of cowards, who incum- 
 bered the defence, and who would, if they had re- 
 mained, have claimed a share in glories w hich they 
 had not courage enough to win. The details of 
 the defence of this place would be incredible but 
 that they are consistent with the whole tenour 
 of Bayard's life, which seems to surpass all that 
 fiction ever conceived. The sallies which he 
 made were so opportune, and conducted with so 
 much discretion as well as bravery, that they in- 
 variably succeeded. The breaches in the walls 
 were repaired, as it were, by magic ; and the 
 besiegers had the mortification to see a fortress, 
 which they thought incapable of a day^s de- 
 fence, and the whole force in which did not ex- 
 ceed a thousand men, baffle, durins' six weeks, 
 an army of five and thirty thousand soldiere, with 
 a heavy force of artillery. («) At lengtli the 
 provisions began to grow scanty, sickness made 
 dreadful ravages in the little garrison, and yet 
 there was no prospect of relief. Bayard, who 
 was as fertile in expedients as he was ready in 
 
 [a) Mezeray says it was during this siege that the use of 
 bombs first came into practice. 
 
 VOL. I. Y 
 
S22 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, action^ succeeded in sowino- dissensions between 
 
 VT 
 
 : the count of Nassau and Sickinohen, who had 
 
 latel} joined his army. He addressed a letter to 
 de la Mark, in which he spoke of a pretended 
 design of the count of Nassau to quit tlie empe- 
 ror's service, and advised him to put it in prac- 
 tice before an attack^ ^vhich was meditated by 
 a large body of Swiss on Sickinghen, should be 
 made, in order that the count might avoid the 
 disgrace of a defeat, of which Sickinghen must 
 be the victim. He dispatched this letter by a 
 countryman, with such instructions as made it 
 certain that it would fall into the hands of Sick- 
 inghen's scouts. The plan succeeded ; the parti- 
 san believed that the count meant to sacrifice him, 
 and he quitted an advantageous position which he 
 had taken up^ and from which he might have an- 
 noyed the fortress, in order to prevent the sus- 
 pected treachery of his colleague. During the 
 confusion which this proceeding occasioned. Ba- 
 yard made an attack, that was extremely de- 
 structive to the besiegers ; and^ although they 
 is raised! sooii aftcrwaixls camc to an explanation, he 
 gained so much time as enabled the king, who 
 had marched with his army to Rheims, to throw 
 a powerful relief into Mezieres, while the duke 
 d^Alencon advanced the main body of his army 
 to within three leagues of that place. The im- 
 perial general being satisfied,, not without some 
 difficulty, {a) that the place was succoured, 
 
 (a) Picart, a celebrated captain, who commanded in the 
 imperial army, for the purpose of ascertaining- whether there 
 
 The siege 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 323 
 
 raised tlie siei>'e, and withdrew his arinv, without ^hap. 
 
 . , VI. 
 
 waiting thefnrtlier advance of the French force. L_ 
 
 Francis wrote a letter of somewhat impious ex- 
 ultation to his motlier [a) on this event, and re- 
 compensed Ba\ ard, who, up to this time, with 
 the most hrilliant reputation in the French 
 army, had no higlier rank than that of lieute- 
 nant, by conferring on him the command of a 
 company of men at arms, and the collar of the 
 order of St. Michael, (b) 
 
 was a scarcity of provision, sent a trumpet to the fortress to 
 ask his old companion in arms for a bottle of wine. The 
 commandant sent him two bottles, one of old and one of new 
 wine, and shewed the trumpet a large cellar well filled with 
 hogsheads, without, however, explaining to him that the 
 greater part of them contained only water. — Belcar., 1. xvi. 
 It was Picart who, when he heard that Bayard defended the 
 place, said he would rather there were two thousand men 
 more in the garrison if he alone were away, 
 
 [a) This letter, which is among the many proofs that 
 Francis gave, at this period of his life, of an almost boyish 
 vivacity, is in the following terms : — '* A Madame. Madame. 
 Toutaseleure ynsy que je me vouloys mettre o lytest aryve 
 Laval, lequel m'a aporte le sertenete deu levemant du syege 
 de Mesyeres je croy que nos anemys sont en grant pene vu 
 la honteuse retr^te qu'yl ont fet. Pour tout le jour de de- 
 mayn, je sor^ le chemyn qu'ys prandront. Et selon sela il 
 nous fodra gouverner. Et s'yl on joue le pasyon, nous jou- 
 rons la vanyanse. Vous suplyant, Madame, voulo\ r mander 
 partout pour fere remercyer Dieu. Car sans poynt dejote 
 il a montre ce coup qu'yl est bon Frangois, Et fesant fyn 
 a ma letre, remetant le tout seur le porteur, pry a Dieu qu'yl 
 vous doynt tres bonne vye et longue. Vostre tres humble 
 et tres obeysant ills — Fran^oys." — Le P. Daniel, t. vii. p. 
 444. 
 
 [b] Belcar., 1. xvi. Memoires de du Bellay, 1. i. Hist, 
 du Chevalier Bavard. 
 
 Y 2 
 
324 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. Yhe imperial troops^ baffled in Champagne, 
 — — ^ — turned their attack towards Picardy, marking 
 fh"e Freiidi their progress by the fiercest and most cruel ra- 
 aimy. yagcs. («) The king hurried after them with 
 all possible dispatch, to repress and punish their 
 detestable outrages, while his officers were em- 
 ployed in repairing the damage they had done 
 on the frontier of Champagne. The duke d^A- 
 lengon retook Mouzon, and the duke de Ven- 
 dome penetrated into Artois and Hainault, where 
 he took and dismantled Bapaume and Landre- 
 cies. It was to a lucky accident that he was 
 indebted for gaining the latter place. It wanted 
 less than two hours to sunset when the French 
 troops reached and sate down before it. Four or 
 five ensigns of the Picardy regiments walked 
 up to the walls during the evening. Two of 
 them, fancying they saw a place by ^^hich an 
 entrance could be effected, had the temerity 
 to mount the wall. Thev were, of course, im- 
 mediately repulsed, and thrown into the ditch^ 
 one of thein being mortally won nded . The inci- 
 dent^ however^ had inspired so much terror in 
 
 (a) In a letter written by Francis to his ministers at the 
 conference at Calais, he speaks of the cruelties exercised by 
 the imperial troops upon the defenceless inhabitants of the 
 country through which they marched, in the following- terms : 
 " lis bruleut et pillent quelques petites villes, despourvues 
 de gens et sans force, et tuent tout ce qu'ils y trouvent pre- 
 tres, femmes, et jusqu'aux petits enfans dedans les berts 
 (berceaux) qui sont exploits desplaisans a Dieu, et dont le 
 sang crie vengeance contr'eux." — MSS. de Bethune, No. 
 8467. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 
 
 325 
 
 the minds of the citizens and seven or eis^ht chap. 
 
 . VL 
 
 hundred lanz-knechts^ who composed the garri- 
 
 son, and who feared they should, on the following- 
 day, have to sustain an assault which they were 
 incapable of effectually resisting, that they cpiit- 
 ted the place during' the night, having' first set 
 fire to it, crossed the Sambre, and threw them- 
 selves into the forest of Marmaux^ whither they 
 were not pursued. 
 
 At about the same time the emperor met his Francis 
 
 * ^ misses an 
 
 retreatinti: army at Valenciennes, with a consi- opportu- 
 
 , . . nityoide- 
 
 derable reinforcement ; and Francis^ learning feanng the 
 that his rival was with his troops in person^ his person. 
 desire to come to an encounter with him became 
 still more ardent. He threw a bridge across the 
 Scheldt ; and the count of Nassau, whom the 
 emperor had sent to dispute the passage, arrived 
 just in time to see that his opposition would be 
 ineffectual, while nothing but the intervention 
 of a thick fog prevented his force being cut to 
 pieces. If the wiser advice of Bourbon, la Pa- 
 lice^ and la Tremoille had been followed, this 
 result must inevitably have happened ; but the 
 doubts which had arisen respecting the numbers 
 of the count's detachment^ and the pernicious 
 advice of the marechal de Chatillon^ prevailed 
 to deprive Francis of the signal advantage which 
 he might easily have gained, {a) It was upon 
 
 (a) Fortune never favoured him in a similar manner 
 during his whole subsequent life. "II semble," says Me- 
 zeray, " qu'en depit qu'il ne I'avoit pas embrassee a Theure 
 qu'elle lui tendoit les bras, elle eut jure de le fuir toujours, 
 
326 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, ^i^jg occasion, too, that the kiiiof committed a 
 
 '. — fault, and an injustice, the consequences of which 
 
 The king he had occasion bitterly to repent. De Bour- 
 
 depnves , . , . . 
 
 Bourbon of bon claimcd, in riiirht of his office of constable 
 
 the coni- 
 
 mandofthe of Praucc^ to lead the vanguard in crossing the 
 vanguar . g^j^^j j^ , ^^^^ ^j^^ king, whom liis mother had 
 
 influenced against that nobleman, chose to con- 
 fer this distinction, an empty one perhaps^ but 
 still one in which the feelings^ if not the honour- 
 of one of his most valuable adherents was in- 
 volved, on the duke d'Alencon, and thus laid 
 the ground for that dislike which ensued on the 
 part of the constable, and which was afterwards 
 the cause of reducing Francis to a disgraceful 
 captivity, and of putting his kingdom in the 
 most imminent peril. 
 Theempe- The cmpcroi^ who had a more correct sense 
 t^ea'tt of the danger of his position than Francis had 
 formed^ fled precipitately, and the king on the 
 following day learnt that he had let slip this 
 most fortunate juncture. He however secured 
 the Low Countries' frontier, relieved Tournay, 
 and drove away the marauding parties who had 
 distressed and desolated the neighbourhood. 
 
 At the same time Bonnivet, who had been 
 dispatched with a considerable force of lanz- 
 knechts to the succour of the young king of 
 Navarre, aided Henri's eflforts so powerfully, 
 that by a rapid series of successful exploits, se- 
 veral important places wqre taken, and the 
 
 et de ne se presenter jamais a liii." — Abr. Chron. Hist, de 
 Franc. P'. 
 
 Bonnivet 
 
 attacks 
 
 Navarre. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST 
 
 327 
 
 admiral laid sie"e to the strong* fortress of Fon- ^h^^- 
 
 , vi. 
 tarabia with such earnestness^ that the defenders '- — 
 
 were glad to capitulate. 
 
 Henry had continued during all this time to xhecon- 
 ofFer to take upon himself the arbitrcment of the caiais. 
 differences between the sovereigns which indeed 
 might have been easily settled^ if either party 
 Iiad entertained any sincere wish for peace. 
 Francis, w ho distrusted the influence of Charles 
 in the English court, cared little to engage in a 
 negociation which he saw it was too probable 
 would be decided against him ; besides, he was 
 flushed with the advantages he had gained, 
 and the desire to humble his rival had a much 
 stronger influence upon him than that of re- 
 storing peace to his country. Charles, on the 
 other hand, who had effected a secret treaty 
 with Wolsey^ by which he had secured the 
 actual assistance of English troops, (a) w as wil- 
 ling enough that the English minister should 
 arrange the quarrel^ or at least that Francis 
 should be diverted from the pursuit of iiis plans. 
 The importunities and intrigues of Wolsey, who 
 
 (a) Turner's Henrij VIII., 1. i. c. x. where he cites a 
 letter of Pace, the king's secretary, to Wolsey, in which 
 he writes, on the 28th July, " The king have concluded, 
 according to your advice and counsel, to put in readiness 
 five or six thousand archers, to be ready to do service at 
 such time as your grace shall have concluded with the em- 
 peror according to such communications as ye have had 
 between you both in that behalf. He will devise upon a 
 great captain to conduct them." — MSS. Cotton. Galba, B. 7. 
 f. 87. 
 
CHAP. 
 VI. 
 
 328 THE LIFE AND TIxMES 
 
 had excited the duchess d'Angouleme's fears, 
 at length succeeded in obtaining the consent of 
 both monarchs to send their ministers to a con- 
 ference at Calais, at which the cardinal was to 
 preside as the representative of Henry, in all the 
 mimic dignity of sovereignty. 
 
 On the part of Francis^ the chancellor du 
 Pratj the marechal la Palice, the president de 
 Selve, and Robert Gedoyn^ were entrusted with 
 this commission^ while Charleses interests were 
 represented by the Spanish chancellor^ Gattin- 
 ara de Bergnes and the abbe Saint Bertin, m ith 
 two jurisconsults, Josse and May. 
 The points Thc main points to be decided were the 
 
 in discus- . /» tvt x • j. • i ^ /^ i i 
 
 sion. restitution ot INavarre to its rigntrul monarch, 
 and the adjustment of Francis's claims on Na- 
 ples. To these Charles had added his pretended 
 claim to the duchy of Burgundy and the en- 
 franchisement of Artois and Flanders^ which he 
 held as fiefs of the French crown. It had been 
 agreed that hostilities should be suspended du- 
 ring this conference, but Bonnivet nevertheless 
 continued his operations against Fontarabia^ 
 while Charles endeavoured to excite distur- 
 bances in the Milanese, and attempted to sur- 
 prise Ardres, but was defeated by the courage 
 and vigilance of its defenders. 
 The ro- ^^^^ commissioners met in August, and some 
 ceedingsof wccks wcrc past in attempts to bring the object 
 missioners. of their meeting to a termination. On the 
 part of the French chancellor there appears 
 to have been an earnest desire to effect an ac- 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 329 
 
 commodation, but the insolent duplicity of 
 Wolsey baffled all his endeavours. He spared 
 no pains to conciliate the haughty cardinal, (a) 
 and it was not until he was convinced of the 
 utter insincerity of the churchman's proceed- 
 ing's that he relinquished his attempts, {b) The 
 
 [a) The lavish presents which were made to Wolsey by 
 the various foreign powers, shew, in a striking- point of 
 view, the notion which was entertained of his avaricious 
 temper, and the expediency of indulging it. The following 
 letter of the chancellor du Prat, written to Francis, from 
 Calais, on the 1st of September, 1521, during the confe- 
 rence, is a curious instance of the compliance which it was 
 thought advisable to manifest with his humour, while it 
 evinces the sincerity of the intentions of the French minister 
 to effect an accommodation if it were practicable : '* Sire, 
 ]e cardinal en allant a la Messe, se tiroit a peine sur sa mule, 
 et m'a diet qu'il 6toit greve en fa^on que ne pouvoit en- 
 durer le cheval. Si m'a demand^ si avoye une lictiere. 
 J'eusse voulu en avoir une, et qu'il m'eust const6 deux fois 
 autant qu'elle pourroit valoir : Sire, vous lui ferez chose 
 fort agreeable, si votre plaisir 6toit de hii en envoyer une, 
 vous congnoissez le personnaige et voyez le temps qui courts 
 elle ne seroit pas perdue ; et d'autant que a madame (the 
 duchess d'Angouleme) en grande veneration, quand la don 
 se feroit au nom d'elle, m'a semble, soubz correction, que 
 n'y auroit que biens et que Ten trouveroit meilleur, car scet 
 que vous n'en usez point, et penseroit que seroit de celles de 
 madame." — MSS. de Bethune dans la Bibliotheque du Roi, 
 No. 8491, fol. 29. 
 
 [h] Mr. Turner, in his admirable history of Henry VIII., 
 a work which, for the depth of research and perfect know- 
 ledge of the cotemporary history is unrivalled, has some ex- 
 cellent observations upon this conference. " The original 
 letters," he says, " from Henry, from Charles, and from 
 the cardinal, preserved in the British Museum (which, it 
 may be observed, Mr. Turner has brought to light with 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 VI. 
 
S30 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, ^hole business of the neiiociatiou was carried 
 
 VI. . "^ 
 
 ! on with a levity and frivolity which proved that 
 
 the other ministers meant nothing- but to tem- 
 porize, (a) 
 
 Wolsey^ in the first instance, proposed a truce 
 for six or ten years, during which time the ques- 
 tions in dispute were to remain undecided, and 
 this being rejected^ he procured an embassy to 
 be sent directly from Henry, offering that the 
 
 most laudable diligence) shew, what, if it were on subjects 
 of common life, between man and man, we should unhesi- 
 tatingly call the knavery of this pretended mediation and 
 umpirage. The only person that was acting with openness 
 was Francis. He was ambitious and restless ; but he was 
 frank. He pursued the war, refused truces, and resolved 
 to press his advantages, Wolsey sailed to Calais as one 
 who was to be an impartial arbiter between two great so- 
 vereigns, and personating as such both his royal master's 
 and his country's integrity, and yet went with secret schemes 
 and treaties agreed on between himself and the emperor, for 
 hostile measures against Francis : a mockery of all unbiassed 
 equity, sullying the honour both of the nation and the 
 throne." — Book i. c. x. 
 
 {a) Du Prat had said in one of the conversations with 
 the emperor's minister, that he would consent to lose his 
 head if his sovereign had aided Robert de la Mark against 
 Charles. The Spanish chancellor claimed du Prat's head 
 as forfeited, for, he said, he had in his possession letters 
 which proved Francis's connivance with Robert de la Mark. 
 " My head is my own yet," replied du Prat, *' for I have 
 the originals of the letters you allude to, and they in no 
 manner justify the scorn you would put upon them." " If 
 I had won your head," replied the imperial chancellor, 
 ** you might keep it still. I protest I would rather have a 
 pig's head, for that would be more eatable." — MSS. de Be- 
 thune. No. 8179. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 331 
 
 emperor should raise the siege of Tournay, and 
 desist from any attempt on the Milanese^ on 
 condition that Francis should withdraw his 
 troops from Flanders and Navarre^ and that the 
 questions between them should be decided ])y 
 the king of England when he might see fit. 
 Francis, who by this time had grown com- 
 pletely disgusted with the conduct of the Eng- 
 lish king and the English minister, (a) rejected 
 
 (a) Wolsey threw off all disguise at this time, by visiting, 
 in a style of ostentatious splendour, the emperor at Bruges. 
 He had before been solicited to do this, by a letter from 
 Charles, written in August, 1521, (printed in the Appendix 
 to Mr, Gall's Life of Wolsey,) which displays through its 
 diplomatic obscurity, of which it may be cited as a model, 
 the terms of confidence and friendship which existed be- 
 tween England and the emperor. After acknowledging 
 the receipt of letters of the 5th of the same month, he 
 thanks him for the care he expresses for his person : " E?i' 
 semble la bonne affection et incUnacion que vous avez 
 touchant la traite et indissoluble conjunction d^entre le 
 roy, mon bon oncle, et moys.^'' The letter proceeds — '* Je 
 demeure aussi en ma resolution que j'ai toujours desire c'est 
 de conclure, avec vous moy mesmes, et user entierement 
 de v're bon avis et conseil, et faire cela je feusse desire en 
 mon arme, a ces causes, et que vou cognoissoit le grande 
 dommage que ce mest, de tant retarder mes aff'res, les- 
 quelles sont telz que ne me peuient souffre plus grande 
 dillacion, et sou les choses si tres avant que je ne puis ni 
 vouldroyt reculler de ce que j'ay entreprens, je vous prie 
 sur tons les plaisirs que me vouldriez fer que vueillez avoir 
 bon regard a ce que dessus. Et pour y prendre la totale 
 co' elusion vous vouloir trouver a Bruges dymanche pro- 
 chain jusques auquel jours je vous y actendray com bien 
 que ce me soit grosse retarducien et me ne laisse jamais 
 pense si longue, car, sant point de fau^tc il me feroit ung 
 
 CHAP. 
 VI. 
 
333 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, ^i^g proposal without hesitation, a determiiia- 
 
 '- — tion which he was perhaps assisted in form ins:, 
 
 Se^nce'is ^^J havittg leamt from Bonnivet that he had 
 broken up. gained Fontarabia^ and by believing his admi- 
 ral's boast that Saint Sebastian would fall next. 
 The hostile proceedings of the contending 
 monarchs were in the mean time carried on with 
 varying success on either side. Tournay was 
 taken by the emperor ^s troops, while those of 
 Francis had their revenge in the capture and 
 sack of the rich town of Hesdin ; and the winter 
 passed in skirmishes, the general result of which 
 was favourable to France. 
 state of The affairs of Italy however had assumed^ 
 
 ^'*^^' during the same period^ an aspect by no means 
 favourable. At first every thing seemed to go 
 on prosperously. The power of France there, 
 strong in itself, appeared to be still stronger 
 by the alliance which Francis had proposed to 
 enter into with the Pope, (a) and which he had 
 
 clommange irreparable passer les jour n'y sentenclre plus 
 
 avant ce que je suis ne vauklriz point et si me voulez 
 
 comme bien li pouves fa. . . .et espert que ferez 
 
 J€ ne faire nulle doubte que vous et mois aurant fait en deux 
 ou trois jours au plus tard ; car nous feront plus en ung jour 
 vous et moy ensemblee que ne feroient mes ambassadeurs en 
 ung- mois." And by way of inducement, he promises to 
 shew him his army, which he says, will convince the cardinal 
 that with the aid of God and his good friends, he does not 
 mean to go to sleep. 
 
 [a] The terms of this treaty were, that the Pope should re- 
 fuse to acknowledge Charles the Fifth's claims to the crown of 
 Naples, and assist Francis's enterprise against that kingdom, 
 upon condition that Francis should cede to the Pope the city 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 333 
 
 promised, to induce the Venetians to join. The 
 preparations were actually in progress for an - 
 attack upon Naples, but Francis still delayed to 
 ratify the treaty^ either from that addiction to 
 pleasure^ and the consequent neglect of his 
 public affairs^ which he now had begun to 
 manifest, or because he believed that the proffered 
 mediation of the king of England might yet 
 produce the effect at which it aimed. The 
 Pope had called in the assistance of some 
 Swiss troops, who were to be kept at the joint 
 charges of the king of France and his holi- 
 ness_, and their appearance in Italy had induced 
 some of the Neapolitan troops to enter the papal 
 territories. («) Leo thus assailed, called upon 
 Francis to take his share of the proposed war ; 
 but the king was deaf to his appeal, although 
 it was reiterated in urgent and some angry 
 terms. Lautrec, who governed the Milanese, 
 manifested an utter want of respect for the holy 
 see, and the tone of the subaltern officers of the 
 French government, who followed his example, 
 induced Leo to suspect that Francis was en- 
 gaged in a compromise with the emperor. (6) 
 
 of Gaeta, and the territory between the Garigliano and the 
 states of the church. It was stipulated also, that the throne 
 of Naples should be occupied not by Francis personally, but 
 by his son Henry, and that the king should assist the Pope 
 against the rebel feudatories, including- the duke of Ferrara, 
 and the duke of Urbino, his allies. 
 
 (a) Guicciardini, 1. xiv. 
 
 [b] The bishop of Tarbes, who was at the head of the ad- 
 ministration of ecclesiastical affairs in Italy, had abetted 
 
 CHAP. 
 VI. 
 
•334 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, jijg resentment added to this suspicion^ pre- 
 '- pared him to relinquish Francis's doubtful friend- 
 
 ship, when an affair happened which at once 
 confirmed the dislike he had begun to enter- 
 Lautrec's taiu. Lautrcc's govemmeiit had bceu tyrannous 
 govern-"' and cruel. Believing that he could only main- 
 Miianese.'^ tain his powcr by the exercise of rigour, he had 
 put to death and banished many of the principal 
 citizens of Milan^ upon accusations of being dis- 
 affected to the government : — a charge which 
 was in many instances untrue^ and which in all 
 cases required to be treated Avith more discretion 
 than he had manifested. In his absence, when 
 he paid a visit to France, for the purpose of cele- 
 brating his marriage with the daughter of the 
 count Albret d'Orval, his brother Lescun, the 
 marechal de Foix, succeeded to the government^ 
 and even surpassed him in severity. The num- 
 ber of the exiles had become so great, as to ex- 
 cite alarm in the mind of the governor, who, 
 knowing that a large body of them had taken 
 shelter at Busseto^ a small fortress belonging to 
 Cristoforo Pallavicini, sent Chardin, one of his 
 officers^ to remind that nobleman that it did not 
 comport with his allegiance to his sovereign to 
 afford countenance and protection to persons of 
 
 Lautrec's contemptuous demeanour towards the Pope, ia a 
 manner which was excessively offensive to his holiness. The 
 bishop refused to receive his bulls ; disobeyed them, or put 
 them into execution, when and how he thought fit, and even 
 indulged in contumacious expressions against Leo. — Le P. 
 Daniel, t. vii. p. 447. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 335 
 
 such suspicious fidelity. Pallavicini was in- 
 duced by the exiles to l^elieve that the real o))ject 
 of Chardin's visit was to ascertain the streni»th 
 of his place^ which Lescun meant to surprise. 
 He extorted from the envoy, by means of tor- 
 ture, such an avowal, as tended to confirm his 
 suspicions, and then most unjustifiably sen- 
 tenced the officer to be hanged. Immediately 
 after the execution of this iniquitous and barba- 
 rous sentence, he fled with his followers to Reg- 
 g\o, where Morone, the late chancellor of Milan, 
 whom Lautrec had compelled to quit the city, 
 and other fugitives had for some time resided, 
 and had been exerting their utmost means against 
 the French interests. Lescun, irritated beyond 
 all measure at this insolent cruelty, demanded 
 the fugitives from Guicciardini, the celebrated 
 historian, who was then the Pope's governor of 
 Reggio ; and upon his refusing to deliver them, 
 Lescun commenced an attack upon the city, in 
 which he was totally baffled ; but w hich act of 
 open and unjustifiable aggression, afforded Leo 
 the opportunity he was too ready to avail him- 
 self of, for breaking with Francis, (a) Lescun^ 
 who saw the mischief he had committed, when it 
 was too late to repair it, sent la Mothe Grouin 
 to offer his excuses to his holiness, and to ap- 
 pease him. Leo would not listen to his apolo- 
 gies ; he complained loudly and bitterly of the 
 want of faith of the French government, and 
 affected to be impelled by his anger at the attack 
 
 (a) Guicciardini, 1. xiv. 
 
 CHAP. 
 VI. 
 
336 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, on Regg io to concl ude a treaty with the emperor, 
 
 '. — while ill truth the particulars of that treaty had 
 
 long been agreed on, and awaited only such a 
 favourable moment for publishing them_, as had 
 now arrived, [a) 
 The war is The coiiscquences of the Pope's change soon 
 became apparent. Hieronimo Adorno, who had 
 been banished from Genoa, endeavoured to sur- 
 prise it by sea^ with galleys manned and fur- 
 nished by Leo and the emperor^ but the vigi- 
 lance of Octavian Fregosa frustrated the at- 
 tempt. At the same time the Milanese exiles, 
 whose hopes were revived, and their means 
 strengthened by his holiness's declaration^ laid a 
 scheme for attacking at once the cities of Como^ 
 
 [a) At this time an accident happened at Milan, which, 
 distressing- in itself, was also extremely unfavourable to the 
 hostile operations which were about to become necessary. 
 The lightning struck the arsenal in which the supply of am- 
 munition for the whole district was contained, which was just 
 about to be distributed to the different fortresses. Twelve 
 thousand tons of powder, and a provision of salt, sufficient 
 for five years, were at once destroyed. The explosion threw 
 down a tower of the citadel, all the houses in the immediate 
 neighbourhood, killed a great number of persons, among 
 whom was Richebourg-, the commandant, three hundred 
 soldiers of the garrison, and a quantity of citizens, whom the 
 fineness of the weather (for the sky is said to have been per- 
 fectly serene immediately before the explosion) had tempted 
 to walk on the esplanade. Leo made an adroit, if not a very 
 pious use of this fatal accident, and represented it as a visi- 
 tation from the apostolical hand of St. Peter himself, who 
 had chosen the day of his own festival, (the 29th June) to in- 
 flict this signal mark of his vengeance on those who were the 
 enemies of his successor. — Belcar., 1. xvi. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 337 
 
 iMilan, Cremona, Parma, and Piacenza. Man- <^h Al- 
 fred Pallavicini, who had engaged the services of '. 
 
 tlie partisan chieftain^ Matto de Brinzi, and his 
 troop of German and Italian bandits^ intended 
 to attack Como on a public festival, when it 
 was believed the garrison would be off their 
 guard, and when his adherents in the city would 
 be able to aid him. Garrou^ the governor, not 
 only prevented their design, but attacked them 
 so unexpectedly^ that he cut them to pieces, and 
 took the two leaders^ who were put to death with 
 circumstances of horrible barbarity. The fate 
 of this enterprise occasioned the abandonment of 
 all the others. The particulars of the Pope's 
 league with the emperor were now disclosed. 
 They were to aid each other in expelling the 
 French from the Milanese, and in re-establishins: 
 Francesco Sforza upon the throne of the duchy. 
 The emperor undertook to assist the Pope and 
 the republic of Florence in all their enterprises ; 
 to regain for him the territories of Parma and 
 Piacenza^ which he was earnestly bent on obtain- 
 ing ; to grant pensions to the cardinal de' Me- 
 dici, and to Alexander, the natural son of Lo- 
 renzo ; and to increase the Pope's levy on Naples. 
 The Pope recognised the emperor's claim to the 
 latter kingdom, of which he gave him inves- 
 titure, and received from him a white hackney, 
 the accustomed token of vassalage. («) 
 
 (rt) This treaty had been carried by Charles, without the 
 advice or knowledge of his governor and adviser Chievres. 
 When the latter heard that his hitherto tractable pupil had 
 VOL. I. Z 
 
338 
 
 THE LIFE AND TIME^ 
 
 CHAP, 
 VI. 
 
 Lescun 
 prepares 
 for de- 
 fence. 
 
 Lautrec 
 resumes 
 the go- 
 vernment. 
 
 Lescun exerted himself strenuously to make 
 preparations for the war, which he saw was ine- 
 vitable, and in which he had to encounter great 
 odds. Tlie Pope^s and the emperor's forces 
 were strengthened by the assistance of the mar- 
 quis of Mantua^ whom the ill-treatment of the 
 French government had occasioned to withdraw 
 from their service, by the state of Florence, and 
 by a considerable number of Swiss^ whom the 
 intrio'ues of the cardinal de Sion had enlisted on 
 their side. Against these he had to oppose his 
 own army, the troops which the Venetians, true 
 to their engagements with France, had sent to 
 his assistance, and a levy of Swiss^ which he had 
 made with great haste on the first news of the 
 war. He wrote to Francis, informing him of 
 the steps he had taken for the defence of the 
 Milanese : but at the same time he called upon 
 his brother to return in all haste, and to resume 
 the difficult and dangerous burthen of his go- 
 vernment, 
 
 Lautrec, however, had powerful reasons for 
 not yielding to these entreaties, until he had 
 completed such arrangements with the French 
 government, as would ensure a sufficient supply 
 of money for the payment of his army, without 
 which he knew the approaching campaign must 
 be unsuccessful. He knew too, that the duchess 
 
 concluded an affair of so great importance, without his co- 
 operation, he is said to have taken the mortification he felt so 
 much to heart, that it shortened his days. — Belcar., 1. xiv. 
 He died, uttering' an exclamation prophetic of the *' world of 
 mischiefs," which were about to ensue. — Mezeray. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 
 
 339 
 
 d'Aiigouleiue, who had become excessively jea- ^"^p- 
 lous of the influence whicli the countess de '- — 
 
 Chateaubriant exercised over the king, had 
 vowed the destruction of their whole fiiniily ; 
 and he believed, that, in accomplishing this end, 
 she would not scruple to sacrifice the interests 
 of France in the Milanese. He stipulated, there- 
 fore^ that the money he required should be ad- 
 vanced to him before he quitted the court ; and 
 it was not until he was overcome by the united 
 importunities of the king and of his sister, and 
 their assurances, backed by the promises of 
 the chancellor du Prat, and of Semblangai^ the 
 finance minister, that he should receive four hun- 
 dred thousand crowns, the sum he had required, 
 immediately upon his arrival at Milan, that he 
 consented to depart. He then returned to his 
 government, and renewed the severities which 
 had before rendered him unpopular, and which 
 were as impolitic and odious at this period of 
 excitement, as they were at all times unjust. («) 
 
 The preparations of the confederate army now Campaign 
 
 f , in the 
 
 required his immediate care. They had threat- Milanese. 
 ened to besiege Parma ; but some disagreement 
 wiiich ensued between Prcspero Colonnaj vvho^ 
 as the Pope's generalissimo, claimed the supreme 
 command of the allied forces ; and Ferdinand 
 d'Avalos, the young and presumptuous inar- 
 
 (a) His first victim was Cristoforo Pallavicini, who had 
 fallen into the hands of his brother, whom he caused to be 
 beheaded, although the judge before whom he was tried, re- 
 fused to sign the sentence under which he was put to death, 
 
 z2 
 
3-iO THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 VI. 
 
 quis of Pescara, who thought his rank as leader 
 of the emperor's forces entitled him to the same 
 post, occasioned so much delay, that before they 
 had effected their intention, Lautrec had time 
 to put the place into a state of defence. Lescun 
 entered the town to defend it in person, and 
 the marechal d'Aubigny, and other celebrated 
 leaders, served under him. The allied forces 
 pressed the place, however, so strongly, that, 
 but for the opportune arrival of Lautrec himself, 
 it must have surrendered. The governor's pre- 
 sence, with an army which, although it was not 
 strong enough to attack the allies effectually, yet 
 kept them in check ; a diversion which was made 
 by the duke of Ferrara, in the state of Modena ; 
 and some suspicion which the Spaniards enter- 
 tained of Leo's sincerity ; procrastinated the 
 siege. This delay became so disadvantageously 
 felt, that the propriety of raising the siege was 
 deliberated in council, and at length resolved 
 upon, but not without a great difference of opi- 
 nion among the leaders, (a) 
 
 If Lautrec had pursued the retreating army 
 with vigour, he might probably have unfitted 
 them for a renewal of their attack ; but the dis- 
 turbed state of the Milanese, the consequence of 
 the disaffection which his savage government 
 
 [a) Guicciardini was one of the officers who most strenu- 
 ously resisted the raising the s-iege ; and Pescara, although 
 he had inclined to that measure, wrote to the Pope, attri- 
 buting the fiiihire of the siege to Colonna's too deliberate 
 caution. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 34l 
 
 had occasioned J prevented him from taking so ^"at. 
 decisive a step. He felt that he w as surrounded ' 
 
 by enemies^ the most dangerous of which were 
 those who did not avow themselves ; and it was 
 this, and the distraction which ensued from it^ 
 that enabled the alhed forces to pass the Po 
 without interruption, a step which placed them 
 within tlie reach of the succours they expected, 
 and which the French general ought to liave 
 intercepted. At length he pursued them, and 
 having overtaken them near Rebec, the occasion 
 for a general engagement presented itself; his 
 foi'ces were equal to theirs^ so that if he had 
 fought them, he had every reasonable hope of 
 the victory, while, if he had chosen to keep 
 them in the post they had taken up, their want 
 of provisions must have given him a decided 
 advantage. He availed himself of neither; but 
 committed the irreparable fault of letting them 
 retreat in the night unmolested. («) The con- 
 sequence was one which changed the w hole face 
 of the campaign. The allies effected a junction 
 with twelve thousand Swiss, whom the indefati- 
 gable cardinal de Sion had raisecl_, and led in 
 person to their assistance, and at the same time 
 their army was recruited by six thousand Italian 
 foot. While the power of the allies was thus 
 
 (a) His Swiss troops, who had been a long time without 
 pay, complained loudly of this proceeding, and demanded 
 the rewards thoy had usually received after a batfle, upon 
 the ground that it was the general's fault an engagement 
 had not taken place, and in the {>re&;umption that if they had 
 fought they must have contjuered. 
 
342 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, increased, that of the French aruiy was dinif- 
 
 VI 
 
 '- — iiished. The Helvetic body became sensible of 
 
 the disgrace of seeing the Swiss fighting against 
 each other, under the banners of the tu o oppo- 
 ■ sing armies. They issued orders to their sol- 
 diers, as well in the pay of France as in the 
 ranks of the allies, to repair home instantly. 
 The cardinal de Sion intercepted the orders ad- 
 dressed to the Swiss whom he had raised^ while 
 he took care they should be received by those 
 who were in the French armv. The latter 
 obeyed the order unhesitatingly, and the car- 
 dinal had the address then to eng-age the same 
 troops to join their countrymen under his 
 standard, assuring them that it was against 
 France alone the order of the diet was directed ; 
 and in order to convince them, he alleged, as 
 proof of the truth of his statement, the fact that 
 he was permitted to retain his own troops ; thus 
 making the very fraud he had committed, the 
 means of giving it fuller effect. 
 
 Lautrec, thus deserted by a large part of his 
 army, and on whose assistance he most relied, 
 was obliged to confine his operations to the de- 
 Lautrec feusive. Tlic alUcs now in their turn assailed 
 ian,*and is him, aiid compelled him to retreat to Milan ; and, 
 of Italy, following up their success, they attacked that 
 place by night, so vigorously and so warmly, 
 that they took the town (in which they were as- 
 sisted by the discontented people) ; and Lautrec, 
 surprised, and only half dressed, had barely time 
 to retreat to Coino, leaving a part of his troops to 
 
OF FRAxNTCIS THE FIRST. 343 
 
 garrison the castle^ under the command of iMas- 
 caron, a Gascon leader. Pescara followed Lau- 
 trec to Como, compelled him to retreat to tlie 
 territory of the Venetian state for security^, and 
 at the end of ten days, Como surrendered to the 
 allies, who, at the same time, took the town of 
 Cremona. 1 he citadel of the latter place, how- 
 ever, still held out, and Lautrec having- by a 
 desperate effort thrown in some troops, attacked 
 and regained the town, which was now the only 
 place of all his government where his authority 
 was recognised, or that afforded a shelter for hiii 
 person. 
 
 Francis received this distressing and humi- 
 liatino' news at the time when the conduct of the 
 English minister gave him too much rciison to 
 believe that he must reckon Henry among his 
 numerous enemies. In the first transport of 
 his anger, he loaded the marechal de Foix, 
 whom Lautrec had made the bearer of his dis- 
 patches, with bitter reproaches for the negli- 
 gence and want of skill his brother had dis- 
 played in the campaign ; for the violence and 
 cruelty which had led to the war; and for the 
 loss of men and money, and territory, which had 
 ensued. The marechal found it at first impos- 
 sible to reply to Francis's just indignation ; but 
 his sister's power soothed the angry monarch, 
 and induced him to listen to the excuses which 
 de Foix had to offer. He detailed the circum- 
 stances which led to the disastrous result that 
 
 CHAP, 
 VI. 
 
314 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 VI. 
 
 had been experienced ; palliated his brother^s 
 conduct on the score of the insecurity of the 
 country, which rendered severity necessary; and, 
 throwing the blame upon the Swiss^ who had 
 deserted at the critical moment when their 
 services were most needed, and promising; 
 largely to recover all that had been lost, he 
 obtained from Francis the promise of speedy 
 succours. 
 
 At the end of the year 1521_, and while Lescun 
 was at the court, Francis received intelligence of 
 Death of the death of Leo X.-, who^ if he was not his most 
 poison.' ^ active enemy, had on many occasions manifested 
 himself to be that worst of foes^ a false friend. 
 It was said that joy^ at hearing that Parma and 
 Piacenza had fallen before his troops^ caused 
 him so violent and sudden a transport of joy, as 
 brought on a fever^ which rapidly terminated 
 his existence ; but it seems probable that his 
 death may be much more reasonably attributed 
 to poison, (fl) 
 
 {«) Leo was contemplating a public thanksgiving for tiie 
 success of the confederate arms, when he was seized by ill- 
 ness ; and within six days afterwards, on the 1st of Decem- 
 ber, 1521, he died. Paris de Grassis, his master of the 
 ceremonies, says explicitly, that the appearance of the body 
 induced him to suggest its being examined, where the most 
 certain indications appeared of the Pope's having died by 
 poison. He relates, also, that an unknown person had called 
 upon one of the monks in the monastery of St. Jerome, and 
 requested him to inform the Pope, that an attempt would be 
 made to poison him by means of his linen. This was con- 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 345 
 
 veyod to the Pope, who declared that if such was the will of CHAP. 
 
 God, he must submit ; but that he should adopt all possible X^_' 
 
 precaution. When afterwards he fell sick, he complained 
 much of an inward heat, and with his last words, declared 
 that he was murdered, and that he could not long survive. — 
 Roscoe, Leo X., vol. iv. p, 328, where the authorities re- 
 specting this mysterious event are collected. 
 
CHAP. VII. 
 
 Competitors for the Papal Throne — The Cardinal of 
 Tortosa is elected — Francis sends Lautrec with an 
 army into Italy — Milan is attacked, hut holds out — 
 The Battle of Bicocca — The French defeated — 
 Cremona capitulates — Genoa is taken — Lautrec re- 
 turns to Court — Is reproached by Francis — Ex^ 
 plains the causes of his Failure — Accuses Semblan- 
 qai, the Finance Minister, of having withheld the 
 requisite supplies — Semblangai justifies himself by 
 shewing that the Duchess d' AngouUme had kept 
 back the Money destined for the Troops — The 
 Duchess procures his disgrace — He is executed — 
 War on the Spanish frontier — Charles negociates 
 with Henry — Visits England — They conclude a 
 treaty against France — Henry's embassy to Francis 
 — The interview between Francis and the English 
 envoy — War is declared — Campaign in the Low 
 Country frontier — Francis assists the Pretender 
 Pole, ivho threatens to invade England — and d'Au" 
 higny, who opposes the English interests in Scotland 
 — Proposes to renew his treaty with the Venetians — 
 Litrigues by the English and Imperial Agents — The 
 Venetians declare against France — Rhodes attacked 
 by the Turks — The gallant defence of the Grand 
 Master — The Island is taken — The policy of the 
 Pope — Cardinal Soderini intrigues to favour an 
 attack on Sicily by Francis — The plot is discovered 
 — The Pope joins the Emperor's 2)^1 tj/. 
 
849 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The death of a Pope^ who was so well dis- co^f^ft-. 
 
 tion for 
 Papacy. 
 
 posed to aid with all his power the designs of ^'^^ '^^^ ^^^® 
 
 the confederates, suspended their proceedings 
 and, while the election of a successor was yet 
 uncertain^ inspired them with alarm. Among the 
 members of the college of cardinals, all of wliom 
 were qualified to accede to the vacant dignity, 
 there were two competitors, on one of whom 
 it appeared almost certain that the choice must 
 fall. The one was the cardinal de' Medici, the 
 nephew of the late Pope ; the other Wolsey, the 
 English cardinal. The first had many adhe- 
 rents in the conclave ; and, reckoning upon the 
 efibrts which the late Pope had made to secure 
 his succession, he felt confident of his election : 
 the second had sacrificed his country's interests 
 and his monarch's honour to gain the assistance 
 of the emperor, with which he made no doubt 
 of attaining this object of his highest hopes ; but 
 he had yet to learn fiiat Charles was a profound 
 adept in the science of dissimulation, which 
 Wolsey had knavery enough to attempt^ but 
 not talent enough to practise \^ ith equal success. 
 He sent Pace from Venice, where he had been 
 employed in negociations on the part of Eng- 
 land to Rome, for the express purpose of soli- 
 
350 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, citino^ the votes of the cardinals in his favoiu'; 
 
 VII "^ 
 
 . — 1— but the cunning of this fit tool of Wolsey's de- 
 sign was thwarted by the superior craft of the 
 emperor's emissaries. The concLive Avas assem- 
 bled on the 27th of December. The emperor, 
 true to the letter of the promise he had made to 
 Wolsey, affected to support his interests. Fran- 
 cis had many reasons for wishing to exclude 
 the cardinal de' Medici, who he believed would 
 pursue his predecessor's policy ; but he had 
 none for raisins: to the much-coveted disfuitv 
 the cardinal of York, who had of late evinced a 
 most hostile disposition towards him. It was 
 rather, therefore, to prevent the election of ei- 
 ther of them than to promote that of any other 
 particular candidate, that he exerted such influ- 
 ence as he possessed in the conclave, and sent 
 the cardinals of Bourbon and Lorraine to Rome 
 to assist at the election, [a) The votes of the 
 cardinals fluctuated between these two rivals, 
 the party of the cardinal de' Medici having al- 
 ways the ascendancy, but yet falling short of 
 the requisite majority, of two-thirds of the whole 
 number. At length, on the 9th of January, 
 1522, the tliirteenth day of the conclave, when 
 the tediousness of delay besfan to be felt univer- 
 sally, the cardinal of Saint Sixtus nominated, as 
 if by inspiration, a man who was not present, 
 whose name was scarcely known in Rome, and 
 
 (a) They did not, however, reach the city, the news of 
 the election being terminated meeting them on their road. — 
 l.e P. Daniel, t. vii. p. 409. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 
 
 351 
 
 who of the whole colle^i'e of cardinals would ^'"'^p- 
 
 ^ VII. 
 
 have been thousfht least likelv to be elected. '— 
 
 This was Adrian, cardinal of Tortosa, the pre- naur^'^ ' 
 ceptor of Charles's boyhood, and now his go- JieSeJ'^ 
 vernor in Spain. Then, for the first time,, the 
 emperor's real designs became apparent, and 
 their disclosure was instantaneously followed by 
 their success. Twenty-six cardinals at once de- 
 clared for the cardinal of Tortosa ; the others 
 either joined them or gave up their opposition. 
 The influence which Charles had been secretly, 
 but most earnestly, exerting triumphed, and the 
 person whom he had nominated was elected al- 
 most unanimously, (a) 
 
 The power and consequence of Charles was 
 exalted bv the result of this election in a most re- 
 markable degree. He had made whatever influ- 
 ence the holy see might possess his ov^n ; he had 
 convinced all Europe of his talent for intrigue ; 
 and the brilliant reward which he had conferred 
 on his tutor intimated, even to those who were 
 not wholly dazzled by his success, that he had 
 the inclination, as well as the power, of reward- 
 ing such persons who would adhere to his in- 
 terests. 
 
 Francis felt that he had neglected an oppor- 
 
 [a) Guicciardini says, the election not only gave the 
 greatest dissatisfaction to the Roman people, but that many 
 of the cardinals themselves were utterly ashamed of the 
 choice they had made ; and that the cardinal Gonzagua, on 
 coming out of the conclave, replied to the populace, who 
 were loading him and his brethren with abuse, '' You are 
 too good to confine yourselves to hard words ; wc deserve to 
 be stoned at the least." — 1. xiv. 
 
352 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 VIL 
 
 tunity Avhich mi^ht have been turned to his ad- 
 vantage^ if he had engaged in it earlier and 
 more energetically. He, however, took the only 
 course that was likely to counteract the ad- 
 vantage which his rival had gained, and pur- 
 sued his design upon the Milanese by sending 
 to Lautrec a supply of money, and a promise 
 Lautrec of iTiorCj and by procuring him at the same 
 
 returns to . r ' 4. ^\ J • Q '.<. 
 
 Italy. tmie a levy ot sixteen thousand men in Swit- 
 zerland, (a) which la Palice marched across 
 the Alps. This succour raised the almost sun- 
 ken hopes of the French. Lautrec was in the 
 field again, and seemed determined to make 
 amends by his present activity for his former 
 supineness. Several of the smaller towns in the 
 Milanese yielded to him, and he hastened to Mi- 
 lan itself, the garrison of which, though hardly 
 pressed on all sides, still gallantly held out. He 
 began an attack upon the city, which might 
 have been successful but for the hatred with 
 which his rule then had filled every bosom 
 against him. The defence was kept np with 
 an energy that baffled all his efforts, and Mo- 
 rone, a second cardinal de Sion in his ani- 
 mosity against France, by means of an Augus- 
 tine monk, called Andrea of Ferrara, who pos- 
 sessed a powerful eloquence that gave him 
 great weight with the populace, added the 
 
 (a) The diet of the Helvetic stales disclaimed with indig- 
 nation the infamous practices of the cardinal de Sion ; and 
 proved their sincerity by refusing- passports to the envoys of 
 the allied forces, at the same time that they granted to Fran- 
 cis as many soldiers as he required. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 353 
 
 the excitement of religious enthusiasm to the chap. 
 horror with which the inhabitants already re- ' 
 
 garded the French governor. (a) The walls of the 
 city had been repaired and fortified by Prospero 
 Colonna, whose vigilance prevented the attack Milan 
 of the French^ w hile a part of his force incessantly 
 assailed the citadel. [0) Lautrec^ being convinced 
 of the hopelessness of his attempt on this city, 
 withdrew his forces, besieged and took No- 
 vara^ and effected a junction with such troops 
 as his brother brought to his assistance, and 
 among whom were Pietro da Navarra and the 
 Chevalier Bayard. 
 
 Colonna whom these successes of Lautrec and is re- 
 forced to quit Milan, for the purpose of relieving cXnaa! 
 Pavia, which the French troops were about to 
 attack, made so good a use of the opportunity 
 which his march afforded, that he enabled Fran- 
 cesco Sforza to join him, w ith a force which he 
 commanded. They returned together to Milan^ 
 where the arrival of Sforza was hailed with the 
 most extravagant demonstrations of joy by the 
 people, who indulged the hope that he would re- 
 
 (a) Du Bdlay, 1. i. 
 
 (It) Lautrec, while reconnoitring- the new fortifications, 
 with some of his officers, was observed by Prospero Co- 
 lonna, who directed a cannon to be fired at them. The shot 
 struck Marc Antonio Colonna, one of the most distinguished 
 of the French leaders, and Camillo Trivulzio, an illegitimate 
 son of the late mar^chal. Lautrec narrowly escaped ; and 
 Colonna was nearly distracted when he learnt the result of 
 the shot, which, as it is said, had been directed by his own 
 hand. — Brantome. 
 
 VOL. I. A A 
 
354 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 ^jj ■ store them to the secure and prosperous condi- 
 tion they had enjoyed under that glorious an- 
 cestor whose name he bore. 
 
 Colonna then relieved Pavia, and marched to 
 Coionna Bicocca^ wherc he took up a very advantageous 
 
 entrenches . n-ii . , i • i i i ■, 
 
 himself at post. 1 liis pJacc^ whicli lias become so cele- 
 brated by the sanguinary battle of which it was 
 the scene^ consisted of a castle^ situated in a 
 large park, which had been formerly used as a 
 chase by the dukes of Milan. It was surrounded 
 by deep ditch es^ which rendered attack very 
 difficult, and was not more than a league distant 
 from Milan. Colonna had so added by his ar- 
 rangements to the natural strength of the spot, 
 that Lautrec, after reconnoitring, determined 
 not to attempt it. He was, however, forced to 
 change this prudent resolution. The Swiss 
 troops had long impatiently insisted on receiving 
 their arrears of pay^ while the ill-faith of the 
 French government, in withholding the pro- 
 mised supplies of money^ had prevented Lau- 
 trec from complying with their demands. They 
 now clamorously assailed the general, and re- 
 quired either their pay, or to be led to the at- 
 tack^ or leave to depart. Lautrec pointed out 
 to them the great strength of the post which the 
 enemy occupied, and the almost certain failure 
 of an attack in the present situation of affairs, 
 and urged them by their own reputation^ and by 
 their friendship for Francis, to have patience, (a) 
 
 [a] Brantome says, with great bluntness, but also with 
 great good sense, *' II les devait tri^s bien et beau laisser 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 
 
 355 
 
 The Bastard of Savoy and la Palice added their <^"ap. 
 
 VII. 
 
 persuasions^ but in vain ; and as the numbers of '- — 
 
 the Swiss uould have made their desertion no 
 less ruinous than a defeat, the general felt him- 
 self compelledj however reluctantly^ to give or- 
 ders for the assault. 
 
 On the followino' mornino; at daybreak, the 1^^^*":^ if 
 
 ~ *^^ ^ ^ compelled, 
 
 march was beo^un ; Montmorenci led the ad- by the 
 
 IT 11111 mutiny of 
 
 vanced ffuard. Lautrec commanded the battle, the Swiss, 
 
 to a.ttsick 
 
 and the duke of Urbino brought up the rear. him. 
 Montmorenci having reached a defile near the 
 entrenchments, would have waited until his ar- 
 tillery had come up ; but the impetuous Swiss, 
 were bent upon fightings, and as they placed little 
 reliance at any time upon artillery, they now tu- ^j^ ^^ , , 
 multuously insisted upon going onwards without ofBicocca. 
 delay. Colonna^ w hose spies had served him so 
 well, that he was perfectly ready to receive them, 
 opened a destructive fire, which swept away 
 whole files of them as they advanced ; while 
 the entrenchments, behind which he had placed 
 his guns, were so high that the Swiss could 
 hardly touch them with the points of their pikes. 
 The carnage was dreadful. Three thousand of the 
 Swiss fell, and among them was their celebrated 
 leader, Albert de la Pierre. Montmorenci was 
 so badly wounded, that he could not continue 
 the fight. At the same time de Foix had forced 
 an entrance to the entrenchments, at the head of 
 
 aller, et les recommender a tous les diables ; car jamais le 
 fait ne va bien quand il faut que le g^n^ral obeisse a ses 
 soldats et combat a leur volont^." — M^m. Art. Lautrec. 
 
 aa2 
 
356 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, ijig gendarmes, and might have kept it, but that 
 
 '- — the Swiss of his division refused to assist him. 
 
 He was driven out, and his troop cut to pieces. 
 Colonna saw the advantage he had gained, and 
 at this moment directed a sally to be made, for 
 the purpose of taking the Swiss in flank, a ma- 
 noeuvre which might have succeeded, but for 
 Pontdormy, who met the troops sent upon this 
 enterprise, with his gendarmes, and drove them 
 back with loss, by which he prevented a total 
 and disastrous defeat. The Swiss had now tried 
 all that the most desperate courage could suggest, 
 and finding it was hopeless to prolong the 
 The fight, they^ determined to retreat. Lautrec, Avho, 
 army is although hc was defeated, had deserved to con- 
 
 defeated 
 
 quer, besought them to remain in view of Bi- 
 cocca, and to renew the combat on the following 
 day. He proposed to make four attacks on 
 four different points, and offered to relieve the 
 Swiss from the post of danger, by putting the 
 French men at arms in the front of the battle. 
 This might have retrieved the glory they had 
 lost, but nothing could make the SavIss docile. 
 They determined to retreat, and effected their 
 determination in so much disorder, that, but for 
 ^^ „ . the cavalry, which the general sent to protect 
 
 The Swiss *' ' • .^ 
 
 desert. thciB, they iTiust havc been almost exterminated ; 
 and in this temper it was that they absolutely 
 quitted the French army, and proceeded without 
 pause to their own mountains. 
 
 Lautrec's position was now a most painful 
 and perilous one. He had lost in the battle 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 357 
 
 many of Ijis best officers, and a large proportion chap. 
 of men. The desertion of tlie Swiss had re- — ~^-~ 
 duced Ills army to one half of its numbers. He 
 garrisoned Lodi ; but Pescara having surprised 
 it, the Avhole of the troops in that place became 
 his prisoners. The Venetians, hitherto the im- 
 tired allies of France^ began to assume a coolness, 
 and Lautrec found it necessary to send Montmo- 
 renci to Venice, for the purpose of preventing a 
 rupture ^vith the only friends they had left in Italy. 
 Having strengthened the few places which still Lautrec 
 adhered to France^ he set out to Paris, to carry news^ofhfs 
 in person the news of his disastrous campaign^ Pads.^^° 
 and to take such measures as might yet be prac- 
 ticable for averting the evil effects that were 
 likely to spring from it. 
 
 Colonna followed up the advantage he had coionna 
 gained, with all possible dispatch. He invested Hl^^^ 
 Cremona^ into which the marechal de Foix had p^^'^^'* 
 thrown himself, with the remnant of his troops, 
 and which the French general might have kept, 
 but for the faithlessness of an allv in whose co- 
 operation he had implicitly trusted ; Giovantji 
 de' Medici had accompanied him, with about 
 sixteen hundred Italians of his troop^ and had 
 been entrusted with the guard of one of the 
 gates. While Colonna was threatening the 
 place, de' Medici made a most inopportune de- 
 mand of the arrears of pay which were due to his 
 men^ and angrily threatened to deliver the place 
 to the French^ unless they were satisfied. Lescun 
 raised, with great difficulty, and by the assis- 
 
358 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 VII. 
 
 tance of his otHcers, a sum which sufficed to pa- 
 cify de' IViedici ; but not venturing to rely upon 
 him after so flagrant a violation of good faith, 
 Cremona hc proDoscd to Coloiina a capitulation, by the 
 terms of which he bound himself to yield the city, 
 unless^ within three months from that day, Fran- 
 cis should have an army in Italy in a state to suc- 
 cour the place. The consequences of this capitu- 
 lation were most mischievous to the French inter- 
 ests. The Venetians^ who had before been hesi- 
 tating whether they should sign the treaty to w hich 
 they were solicited by Montmorenci, immediately 
 declined^ in the conviction that no army could ar- 
 rive from Fmnce within the time stipulated ; and 
 that after the surrender of Cremona, Brescia and 
 Bergamo could not hold out. But the most fatal 
 result of this arrangement was that, by relieving 
 Colon na from the necessity of keeping his army 
 before Cremona, it left him at leisure to pursue 
 his plans against Genoa. He ordered the mar- 
 quis of Pescara to march against that important 
 place with the whole of the Spanish infantry, 
 and some of the Italian troops, in the hope that 
 he should be enabled to procure from its cap- 
 ture money enough to satisfy his soldiers, who had 
 now become clamorous for their pay. Pescara's 
 
 Genoa is . 
 
 attacked; appcaraiicc struck terror into some part of the 
 inhabitants, while it revived the confidence of 
 the faction hostile to the French interests. A 
 diversion w as, however, effected by the appear- 
 ance of Pietro da Navarra, who at the same time 
 sailed into the port with two galleys and about 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 
 
 359 
 
 two hundred French soldiers. He prevented the chap. 
 
 VII. 
 
 surrender of tlie city, which was talked of, but L_ 
 
 could not hinder a deputation of the citizens 
 from going to Pescara in his camp for the pur- 
 pose of treating with him. While this negocia- 
 tion was pending, and in the confidence that no 
 attack would be made, the guard was but negli- 
 gently kept up. Some of Pescara's Spaniards, 
 who had discovered a breach in the walls, effect- 
 ed an entrance by it ; they were soon followed 
 by other parts of the army, as the general pre- 
 tended without his knowledge or sanction ; and 
 the city was taken with no other defence than such 
 as was offered by Pietro da Navarra, who, with 
 his Frenchmen, maintained, in the great square, 
 an ineffectual resistance against an attack which 
 was treacherously seconded by some of the in- 
 habitants. At length he was obliged to yield, 
 and although a small portion of his followers 
 gained the citadel, it was so ill furnished with 
 provisions, that it was impossible for them long 
 to maintain it. Octavian Fregosa, who was ancUaken. 
 sick, was taken a prisoner in his bed, and his 
 old enemy, Antonio Adorno, proclaimed doge 
 in his stead. The city was gained almost with- 
 out striking a blow, and Pescara had the double 
 pleasure of enriching his own followers by its 
 plunder, and of disappointing Colonna, whom 
 he detested, of the supplies he hoped to draw 
 from Genoa. This event concluded the declen- 
 sion of the French power. The three months 
 stipulated for the relief of Cremona had expned ; 
 
360 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, a French army had arrived in Italy, bnt the 
 ^"' loss of Genoa rendered its operations useless. 
 Francis ordered Lesciin to evacuate the city, 
 and thus the activity of his enemies, the misgo- 
 vernment of his officers, his mother's intrigues, 
 and his own fatal negligence, once more left 
 him, of all his Italian possessions, nothing bnt 
 the citadel of Cremona, which, under the de- 
 fence of the gallant Janot d'Herbouville, still 
 
 held out. 
 
 Lautrec's Lautrcc expericuced a most mortifying re- 
 reception / ... , X TT* 
 
 at court, ception on his arrival at the court. Jtiis ene- 
 mies, of whom he had a considerable number, 
 had employed all their influence to prejudice 
 the king's mind against him, and his own ill 
 success had too powerfully seconded their ef- 
 forts. Francis refused to admit him to his pre- 
 sence ; but even this did not discourage him. 
 He knew that his defeat was mainly to be attri- 
 buted to the failure of the supplies which had 
 been promised him, and he exerted himself as- 
 siduously to gain an interview with the king, 
 perfectly convinced that if he could once ex- 
 plain the causes of his miscarriage, he should 
 exculpate himself. He applied to the duke of 
 Bourbon, who was well disposed towards him, 
 and who took up his cause the more warmly 
 when he learnt that the marechars justification 
 would involve the exposure of the duchess de 
 Angouleme's rapacity. By the influence of the 
 duke, and still more, perliaps, by means of the 
 incessant importunities of the countess de Cha- 
 
 s 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 361 
 
 * 
 
 teaubriant, to whom it was difficult for Francis chap. 
 
 VII. 
 
 to deny any tilings Lantrec obtained the desired ' 
 
 interview. The king received him coldly, and 
 even angrily. Lantrec began the conversation 
 by asking Francis to explain the cause of his 
 displeasure^ which was too evident. Francis obtamsan 
 broke out into vehement reproaches as^ainst withPran- 
 
 cis, in 
 
 hinij and asked him^ whether the man whose which he 
 misconduct had lost him the duchy of Milan the causes 
 deserved any other reception. This was exactly Le"and 
 what Lautrec desired. He replied warmly and wmseif. 
 firmly, that the loss of the Milanese ^^as not 
 attributable to him ; and that if the assin^ances 
 which had been made him before he set out 
 had been performed, if the king's own pledge 
 had been kept, the province might still have 
 been his in spite of all his enemies. '^ Your 
 majesty ^s gendarmes,'^ he continued, '' have 
 served for eighteen months without touching 
 one sous of their pay : the Swiss, whose custom 
 in these matters your majesty well knows, were 
 kept in your army by my persuasions alone. 
 They did not quit it until after a bloody and 
 disastrous battle, in which they fought, without 
 discretion it is true, but with valour and fidelity 
 which ought to have commanded victory. To 
 that battle they forced me against my better judg- 
 ment ; but it was their very need that urged them 
 to so desperate an expedient, and it was mine that 
 compelled me to yield to their demands. It is 
 your majesty's misfortune to have lost the duchy ; 
 and the only fault I have committed^ if that be 
 
362 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. Qj^g jg ^Q have trusted to promises, some of 
 
 VII. . 
 
 '— which I now suspect were made only to betray 
 
 me.^^ Francis was struck by the intrepid cahn- 
 ness of the general^ no less than surprised at the 
 tenour of his discourse. He asked what had 
 become of the four hundred thousand crowns 
 which had been sent for the payment of the 
 troops. Lautrec replied, that he had received 
 his majesty ^s letters announcing such a supply, 
 but that no part of the money had reached him ; 
 nor, as he believed, had it ever crossed the Alps. 
 Francis's anger was not diminished by this reply ; 
 but Lautrec was no longer the object of it. 
 The king sent for Semblan9ai, the finance mi- 
 nister, and asked him what had become of the 
 Recrimi- moucy ill question ; and was informed by him, 
 siSe- that it had been taken by the duchess d'Angou- 
 duchess ^ leme, l)y virtue of her authority as regent, for 
 femeind ^cr owu usc, aud that he had her receipt for the 
 nan?e sum. The kiug hurried immediately into his 
 minister, mothcr's chamber, and demanded an explana- 
 tion of her conduct, which had had so fatal an 
 effect upon his interests. She denied Sem- 
 blan^ai's accusation with the utmost effrontery ; 
 and although she admitted that she had received, 
 at the time in question, a sum of four hundred 
 thousand crowns from the minister, she insisted 
 that the money was her own, the produce of her 
 savings for many years, which she had deposited 
 with Semblan^ai for safe custody. The king, 
 impatient at the contradictions which ensued be- 
 tween his mother and the minister, and not ven- 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 363 
 
 turinc' then to examine to the bottom an affair chap. 
 
 VII. 
 
 which he believed must end in tlie disgrace of 
 one whose reputation he had every inducement to 
 protect, said to Lautrec he was satisfied ; and 
 that he now saw they had not gained the victory 
 because they did not deserve it ; to his mother 
 and to Semblan^ai he enjoined silence. '' Let 
 us try/^ he said, " to understand our own inter- 
 ests better for the future^ but, above all, let us 
 not turn traitors to one another.^^ 
 
 Lautrec was restored to the kind's favour. The Pt 
 
 c5 duchess 
 
 countess of Chateaubriant's influence was once dAngou- 
 
 leme pur- 
 
 more in the ascendant, and the duchess d*Angou- s^es sem- 
 leme, exposed and disgraced, meditated a signal death. 
 vengeance on Semblan9ai, who had been the 
 means of her detection. Her malice was not 
 the less fatal for being a short time suspended. 
 He continued in his office until 1524, when 
 money was wanted for another Milanese expe- 
 dition, and Semblan^ai, who was known to be 
 very rich, having' refused to make an advance 
 which the king solicited, on the score that three 
 hundred thousand crowns were then due to him, 
 of which he most inopportunely urged the pay- 
 ment, the duchess thought the occasion favourable 
 for his ruin. She fomented the king's anger 
 until she procured the dismissal of the minister, 
 who, not unwilling to be relieved from duties 
 which his years rendered him unable to discharge 
 with ease, retired to his estate near Tours. She 
 then commenced a civil process against him for 
 the balance of the pretended deposit she had 
 
364 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, made with him, and put in practice all the in- 
 
 ' fluence she possessed, and all the arts of which 
 
 she was so accomplished a mistress, for the pur- 
 pose of compassing' the destruction of a man to 
 whose fidelity and probity she had formerly borne 
 testimony in unequivocal terms, (a) By means 
 the most unjustitiable^ Prevot, his secretary, was 
 induced to accuse him of peculation. The old 
 man was arrested, and committed to the Bastille. 
 Du Prat, the duchess's creature^ and Semblan- 
 9ai's bitter enemy, was his pri cipal judge. 
 The charges against him were eagerly received ; 
 he was convicted of malversation in his office, and 
 sentenced on the 9th of August, 1524, to he 
 hanged, which sentence was shortly afterwards 
 carried into execution. (6) The conduct of the 
 
 (a) '' J'ai ete acertene que le principal secours de la de- 
 pense est venu par le moyen du Sr. de Semhlan^ai, et par les 
 empriints particuliers qu'il a fails en son propre et prive nom, 
 et dont il a fait cedules et promesses en divers lieux; et com 
 bon loyal et affectionne serviteur n'a jamais regarde a sa 
 seurete pour I'avenir, mais y a mis le tout pour le tout et 
 pour dix fois plus qu'il n'a vaillant. Le roi le doit remu- 
 nerer de ses services ainsi que chacun congnoict qu'il merite 
 et qu'il appartient a recongnoistre a ung si grande maistre." 
 — MSS. de Beth. No. 8503, fol. 18. The king too had 
 always testified respect and affection for him, which he 
 seems to have merited, and was in the habit of calling him 
 his father. 
 
 [b) The manner in which this venerable victim met his 
 fate is differently related. Du Bonchet says, that he wept 
 bitterly over the injustice of his sentence, and that he che- 
 rished, up to the very moment of his death, the fond belief 
 that the king would grant his pardon. Other writers repre- 
 sent him as having encountered his undeserved death with 
 
CHAP. 
 VII. 
 
 OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 365 
 
 duchess d^Angouleme on many occasions was 
 fatally injurions to France, but no act of her life 
 contributed so much to excite the detestation 
 of the people, as the remorseless cruelty with 
 which she is believed to have brought about the 
 death of this minister^ whose only crime was, 
 that he would not submit to a censure he had 
 not incurred, in order to shield her from the dis- 
 grace which her rapacity had merited. 
 
 The relation of this affair, in which the kiws waronthe 
 
 ' ^ Spanish 
 
 of humanity, and the rules of justice, were frontier. 
 equally violated, have withdrawn us from the 
 course of the events which took place at this pe- 
 riod. The French arms experienced little better 
 success beyond the Pyrenees, than in Italy. 
 Jaques de Daillon, seigneur de Lude, to whom 
 the defence of Fontarabia had been entrusted, 
 kept the Spanish army in check for more than a 
 year. At the end of this time his garrison was 
 
 the firmness of a philosopher, and the resignation of a man 
 conscious of his own innocence. Marot, in one of his poems 
 intitled Du Lieutenant Criminel et de Semhlangai, has 
 made the contrast between the intrepidity of the aged mi- 
 nister and the agitation of Mailiard, who superintended his 
 execution, the subject of an epigram. 
 
 (C 
 
 Lorsque Mailiard, juge d'enfer, menoit 
 
 A Montfaucon Semblan^ai, I'ame a rendre, 
 
 A votre advis lequel des deux tenoit 
 
 Meilleur maintien ? Pour le vous faire entendre, 
 
 Mailiard sembloit homme que mort va prendre 
 
 Et Semblan9ai fut si ferme vieillard 
 
 Que Von cuidoit pour vrai qu'il menat pendre 
 
 A Montfaucon le lieutenant Mailiard." 
 
366 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 VII. 
 
 SO much reduced by sickness and famine, that it 
 was impossible for him to hold out much longer. 
 Several attempts had been made to succour him 
 by sea ; but the vigilance of the Spanish priva- 
 teers had hitherto baffled them all, and those 
 which had been made by land had failed still 
 more disastrously. The enemy had possession of 
 all the country round about, and despair began 
 to weaken the resolution with which the gallant 
 officer had hitherto maintained his defence. 
 Francis, notwithstanding the troubles which be- 
 set him, made an effort to save this place. He 
 dispatched an army, commanded by the marquis 
 de ChatilloUj w ho had no sooner reached Dacqs, 
 than he was seized with a dangerous illness. 
 La Pal ice was sent to fill his place, but not until 
 a most injurious delay had been suffered to in- 
 tervene. He marched towards Fontarabia^ and 
 came in sight of the Spanish army^ which was 
 encamped on the other side of the river, prepared 
 to dispute his passage. The vice-admiral of 
 Brittany, who w as to have aided him by sea., 
 w as detained by contrary winds ; the time was 
 pressing, and la Palice determined to attempt 
 the passage with no other assistance than that of 
 his own troops. He planted his cannon on the 
 bank of the rivei% and as soon as the tide had 
 ebbed, he commenced a furious fire on the 
 enemy, who were posted on the opposite bank. 
 They were compelled to give way, and la Pa- 
 lice, under cover of the same fire, crossed in 
 safety, attacked the lanz-knechts of Furstemberg, 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 367 
 
 uho disputed his progress, and charged them c^ap. 
 
 so vigorously, that they were completely routed. '— 
 
 He then triumphantly entered the city, which 
 he supplied with men and provisions. The 
 seigneur de Lude relinquished his command to 
 Franget^ and on the emperor's arrival in Spain^ 
 he learnt that Francis was master, and likely to 
 remain so, of this important place. 
 
 This intelligence counteracted in some de- The em 
 
 c5 ^ peror ne- 
 
 erree the satisfaction which Charles had expe- gociates 
 
 ^^ , . * with Hen- 
 
 rienced from the success of his arms in Italy, ry viii. 
 He resumed his plan for endeavouring to secure 
 the assistance of the English monarch, with 
 which he hoped to pursue his successes against 
 Francis, and to carry the war into France. 
 Wolsey^ to whom he addressed himself for this 
 purpose, had manifested great coolness towards 
 his interests, since the election of the emperor's 
 adherent to the papacy had proved the insincerity 
 of the promises which Charles had made to the 
 English cardinal. His triumph in Italy, how- 
 ever, and the insinuations which Charles threw 
 out, that he might still have an opportunity of 
 fulfilling the desires of Wolsey when the papal 
 throne should again become vacant, an event 
 which Adrian's age and infirmity rendered ex- 
 tremely probable, induced the cardinal of York 
 to listen to his proposition for engaging in a 
 treaty of alliance against France, the particulars 
 of which were to be settled in a personal inter- 
 view between the monarchs. A correspondence 
 took place respecting it, which occupied the 
 
368 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, space between March and May, when^ on the 
 
 VII 
 
 26th of the latter month, Charles arrived at 
 Visits him Dover, and was received by Henry in person. 
 knd"^ He contrived to render his offers so acceptable 
 to Henry, and to his minister, that they confirmed 
 the treaty which had been suggested, and Henry 
 bound himself to enter immediately upon the 
 war against France. After Charles had spent 
 about a month in England, he returned, leaving 
 Henry occupied in the contemplation of designs 
 Concludes vv'hich, as the emperor had assured him, must 
 treaty lead to the recovery of all the possessions which 
 France. England had once held in France, and ultimately 
 to the French throne; and having inspired 
 Wolsey with new dreams of acquiring the tiara, 
 while to encourage him in the belief of his sin- 
 cerity he had promised to secure him a pension 
 of nine thousand crowns of gold, (a) 
 Henry's Bcforc, howcvcr, Charlcs had arrived in per- 
 F?anc?s! *° son he had influenced Henry to make a decla- 
 ration of war against Francis. The pretences 
 upon which the English monarch attempted 
 to justify this step were so flimsy, as to prove 
 beyond all question his own conviction of its 
 injustice. He complained that Francis had not 
 shewn sufficient deference to him as the ap- 
 pointed arbitrator of the quarrel between the 
 emperor and himself, by refusing to give up 
 Fontarabia at his request ; and he insisted that 
 the French king ought to have prevented the 
 
 (a) Hall. Lord Herbert, 114. Fiddes's Life of Wolsey, 
 
 C. XX. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 36l) 
 
 €HAP. 
 VII. 
 
 dtike (I'Aubigny from going to Scotland, where 
 Henry charged him with having excited a feel- 
 ing hostile to his sister's and his own interests, 
 A stale complaint, arising out of some quarrels 
 between English and French merchants, made 
 up tlie list of England's supposed grievances. 
 Sir Thomas Cheyne^ who was then the English 
 ambassador to France, was charged with the 
 ungracious task of communicating his master's 
 remonstrances and demands to the French 
 king. 
 
 The ambassador had an interview first with chJ>^nT** 
 the duchess d'Angouleme, who, having learnt ^^lotle^ct 
 from him the tenour of his instructions, ex- o/hismis- 
 
 ^ sion to tlie 
 
 pressed the most earnest desire for a pacifica- ^1"^^^'^^^ 
 tion, which she suggested might be best effect- en^e. 
 ed by a congress, and which Henry alone could 
 bring about. Some days afterwards Sir Thomas 
 Cheyne had an interview with Francis, who had 
 been absent for several days, but who, when 
 they met, was apprized by his mother's letters 
 of the object of the English envoy's errand, and 
 had been employed in preparing for the storm, 
 which he began to think could no longer be 
 averted, (a) 
 
 -^ . • 1 1 T» • . I • His inter- 
 
 Jbrancis was accompanied by Bonmvet, his view with 
 
 Francis. 
 
 [a] '' Tyl yesterday I cold nother speke with the kyng or 
 the adrayrall, for on my comynge back fro my ladye he 
 was gon, no man cold tell whither, the kyng, and the admy- 
 rall with him, and not past a dowsayn gentlemen, and a party 
 of his gard. And all the residew taryed at a towne called 
 Barr sur Albe ; but of a suretie he hath been with the duke 
 of Lorayne."— MSS. Cott. Calig. D. viii. p. 226. 
 
 VOL. I. B B 
 
370 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 VII. 
 
 bosom companion at this time, when Sir Thomas 
 Cheyne was introduced. The king began the 
 conversation by telling the ambassador that the 
 duchess, his mother^ had informed him of the 
 general purport of his errand ; and for the trou- 
 ble which the king of England had taken to- 
 wards effecting a pacification, he, in the first 
 place, returned him his " right hearty thanks.'^ 
 He then went directly to the business. First, 
 respecting the piracies committed in the English 
 Channel, and which Henry had made one o^round 
 of his complaint, he said, with great truth, that 
 they had been brought on in consequence of the 
 aggressions and evil dispositions of individuals 
 of both countries ; but, as he was no less desirous 
 to repress such disorders than the king of Eng- 
 land could be, he offered to refer the whole mat- 
 ter, as well the damage which had been done, 
 as the means of preventing it for the future, to 
 the arbitrement of commissioners to be appoint- 
 ed for that purpose, (ct) With respect to the 
 duke d'Aubigny's visit to Scotland, he protested 
 that it had been made not only without his 
 consent or knowledge, but in open disobedience 
 of his express commands ; and, referring to an 
 explanation which he had previously given to 
 
 (a) Francis had ordered certain English merchants' goods 
 in France to be seized ; which injury Henry retaliated by 
 confiscating all the effects of the French and Scotchmen then 
 in London, and committing the better sort of their owners 
 until they paid a fine which he had imposed, while the poorer 
 were sentenced to ten days' imprisonment. — Lord Herbert, 
 113. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 371 
 
 Sir Thomas Fitzwilliain. and to the fact of his chap. 
 
 VII. 
 
 having sequestered d'Aubig'iiy's property in '- — 
 
 France for this contumacious disregard of his 
 orders, he said, that by this time Henry knew 
 whether he had not done his best to bring d^Au- 
 bigny out of Scotland^ and w^hether that per- 
 sonage went thither with his knowledge or no. 
 Sir Thomas Cheyne having intimated to him^ 
 that if the English king's attempt to reconcile 
 the belligerent parties should fail, Henry would 
 feel in his conscience that he ought rather to de- 
 clare against Francis than against the emperor. 
 Francis said, he trusted the king of England 
 would declare himself no otherwise than the 
 right required ; and that, as to the question 
 of who had begun the invasion, that had been 
 set at rest by the evidence given before the 
 commissioners at Calais, and was even avow- 
 ed by the emperor himself, who had trans- 
 mitted to him a cartel of defiance, which he had 
 still to produce ; and he concluded this part of 
 the conversation by a complaint which was too 
 well founded, that, in the Calais conferences, 
 every thing that made for the emperor was 
 well taken, but nothing on his (Francis's) side. 
 For the proposed congress which had been 
 suggested he expressed his readiness to encur 
 in it, and his trust that ITenry would bring it 
 about. The insidious proposition of the truce 
 Mas then discussed, and Francis said, with as 
 much frankness as good reason, that he should 
 decline to agree to it, unless upon such terms 
 
 B B 2 
 
372 Tttfi LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, jjg would leave him in no worse condition when 
 — *__ the truce should have expired, than he was at 
 that moment. The chief points for which he 
 stipulated were, that all Italy should be included 
 in itj as well as the duchy of Milan, and that the 
 emperor should at once withdraw his army al- 
 together from that province ; and even this, he 
 said, he would not have listened to for any man 
 living, but the king of England, considering' the 
 advantage he possessed over the emperor ; for 
 he had then two and thirty thousand foot, paid 
 for a year to come, which would not, therefore, 
 cost him one sous in addition^ and four thousand 
 men at arms over and above his army in Italy ; 
 while, to his certain knowledge, the emperor 
 had no men, nor any money to pay them if he 
 had. With respect to the pretence upon which 
 the Milanese was attacked, he said the emperor 
 had no more title to the duchy of Milan, than 
 he (Francis) had to the realm of Spain ; that it 
 was not reasonable the emperor should have 
 his own way in every thing ; and he trusted 
 that Henrv esteemed him no worse man than 
 the emperor, for he said '^ he estemyth himself 
 as good as he in every condicion, and he would 
 be gladder to do the king more pleasure for 
 his love alone, than the emperor \v old do bothe 
 for his love and hys money ;" and that he, 
 therefore, trusted that Henry would well weigh 
 every thing indifferently, or else let the parties 
 engaged settle their differences single-handed. 
 He added his perfect confidence that, if this were 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 373 
 
 done, he would make Charles "one of the chap. 
 
 VII 
 
 pourest princes in Christedom.'* The tone in i— 
 
 which Francis uttered this determination, con- 
 vinced Sir Thomas Cheyne^ that a pacific ter- 
 mination of Ills errand wasliighly improbable ; 
 but^ as he seems to have been impressed with a 
 sense of the injustice of the whole proceeding, 
 lie resolved to make an effort to prevent tlie 
 rnptu re between his master and the French king. 
 He therefore turned to Bonnivet, and begged him 
 to use his influence with Francis in persuading 
 liim to accede to the proposed truce ; on which 
 the admiral, with his characteristic high and rash 
 spirit^ replied that he had rather see the king 
 his master in his grave, than he would advise 
 him to agree to a proposition so much against 
 his honour as he took this of the truce to be. 
 
 Francis added, that he would not have listened 
 to any offer of truce^ but for the estimation in 
 which he held the amity of England, for which 
 alone he had condescended so far ; and '' that 
 the especial cause movyng him thereto, was only 
 for perfect love and affection that he bore to 
 the king's highness, and not for feare of no man 
 living.'' 
 
 The ambassador perceiving that hostilities 
 could not be prevented, proceeded to inform 
 Francis, that the emperor, being about to pass 
 into Spain, had requested Henry to be the pro- 
 tector and defender of his Fow Country posses- 
 sions^ which the king of England intended to 
 agree to. Francis replied^ with a sarcastic 
 
374 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 VII. 
 
 spirit, which exhibited at once his contempt 
 and dishke of Charles, and his irritation at the 
 unworthy treatment which he felt he was re- 
 ceiving from Henry, that he thought the em- 
 peror could not have adopted a wiser resolution, 
 since it was clear that Henry was better able to 
 defend his realm than he, its true king; and 
 that, if the king of England could be persuaded 
 to assume such an office, however advantageous 
 it might be for Charles, it was no less a plain 
 and manifest declaration, which monarch the 
 sovereign of England had determined to favour. 
 For himself he protested that he had never given 
 Henry cause that he should take part against 
 him with his enem}; ; but on the contrary, that 
 from their past friendship he should look for 
 his help against whatever foes he might have to 
 encounter. '' Moreover, he said that and there 
 were no other remedy, and the king's highness 
 would take part against him^ then he trusted to 
 defend himself and his royalme very sufficiently. 
 And for his sake he sayd he wold never trust 
 prince livyng. And an he lost hym ones he 
 made a vow to Godde, that he would never 
 Wynne him again as long as ther was fcreth in 
 his bodye. Neverthelesse he said, that his very 
 trust was the king highness would not lose him 
 thus ;'' and he added, with an appearance of feel- 
 ing, which was in all probability quite sincere, 
 that ^' the extremity of the war did not grieve 
 him half so muche as the losyng the friend wl om 
 he had most esteemed, for that he had prized 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 375 
 
 the ainvtve of the kind's hierhness above all <^"ap. 
 
 other things. ^^ < — 
 
 Sir Thomas Chevne findin^f that Francis war is de- 
 
 , . clared by 
 
 could not be induced to accept the disadvan- the Eng- 
 
 -. . ■. T 1 ' lish herald. 
 
 tageous terms which were proposed to him, 
 concluded the conversation ; [a) and the Eng- 
 lish herald, who had been sent with him for that 
 purpose, then made a formal declaration of 
 war. {b) 
 
 Hostilities were then commenced on either xheeariof 
 side. The earl of Surrey was appointed the ad- ^"^T^ *^' 
 miral of the Spanish and English combined lllfZc^ 
 fleets, and commenced his operations by at- JCemp'^- 
 tacking and destroying several towns on the J^['' s^"^' 
 coasts of Normandy and Brittany. Having con- 
 veyed the emperor to St. Andero, on his return, 
 lie quitted his maritime occupation, and assumed 
 
 (a) The particulars of this interview, in which Francis's 
 sincerity and frankness are placed in a striking point of 
 view, are taken from Sir Thomas Cheyne's dispatches, in 
 MSS. Cotton. Calig. D. viii. The impression which the in- 
 terview, and the subject to which it related, had made on the 
 mind of the ambassador, may be conceived from the whole 
 tenor of his letter. The paper has suffered much in the fire, 
 but notwithstanding the mutilation, the following passage 
 shews the notion which the writer had of the injustice of the 
 task he was made to perform, and the impolicy of forfeiting 
 Francis's alliance. 
 
 *' Please y* yo"" grace that in myn opynion yt were to 
 
 to lose this man considering by evrye thinge I can 
 
 that ther is no thyng in this world that he esteemeth as 
 
 only the amitye betwixt the kings highness and his 
 
 honour always preserved."- — MSS. ibid. 
 
 [h] Hall, 71. Lord Herbert, 129. 
 
376 TliE LIFE AND ThMES 
 
 ^^i^^' the command of the English troops, with whicli 
 
 '— he proceeded to harass the French frontier. 
 
 At the same time the count de Buren led up to 
 his assistance a small force which the lady re- 
 gent of the Low Countries had levied in the 
 name of the emperor. 
 Francis's The danger of their joint attack was not so 
 dSence! Considerable as to occasion any great uneasiness, 
 and Francis adopted the plan of defence, which, 
 under similar circumstances, had always been 
 found effectual. He strengthened and victualled 
 the fortresses, re-inforced their garrisons, and 
 committed the care of this seat of the war to the 
 duke de Vendome. The citizens of Paris^ who 
 were not without some cause for apprehension 
 at the near neighbourhood of the enemy, raised, 
 at their own expense^ a garrison of one thousand 
 men, which they dispatched for the defence of 
 Dourlens ; and Francis, who was much in want 
 Raises mo- of moucy, availed himself of the threatened at- 
 tack to convert a screen of silver, with which the 
 superstition of Louis XI. had encircled the tomb 
 of St. Martin of Tours, into current coin, which 
 he applied in payment of his troops. («) 
 Lord sur- Tlic Euglisli ffcneral^ who perceived diat little 
 
 rey's cam- li 'iii ii 
 
 paign. advantage to the enterprise he had undertaken, 
 and still less honour to himself, were likely to 
 
 (a) This screen was of the value of 6,776 marks. It was 
 coined at the royal mint into testons, on one side of which 
 St. Martin's shrine was represented. Some of them are still 
 preserved in the cabinets of antiquaries. — Le P. Daniel, 
 t. vii. p. 490. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 377 
 
 result from a contest so protracted and so dan- trHAP. 
 
 . VII 
 
 gerous, joined his forces with those of de Buren, L_ 
 
 and laid siege to the town of liesdin^ a pUice 
 neither of importance nor of strength, whicli 
 was defended by du Bier, with about thirty 
 men at arms, while the garrison consisted of, at 
 most, seventeen hundred foot. They, however, 
 maintained the place so gallantly, that after 
 an attack of a fortnight, Surrey, finding the 
 bad weather had set in, and that his army was 
 fast thinning from the effects of sickness, deter- 
 mined to withdraw. He, therefore, raised the Hiscmei- 
 
 tics» 
 
 siege, and inarched his wasted troops to Eng- 
 land, plundering the country through which he 
 passed, and burning some few defenceless towns, "^^JJ" 
 with a cruelty so needless^ that it equally dis- 
 graced him as a man and as a soldier, (a) 
 
 Francis, although he contented himself with pramisa^ 
 opposing the English invasion of his realm, by pole.'wio 
 measures of cautious defence, was not backward tohi^vade 
 in threatening to retaliate upon his unprovoked ^"s^"'^ 
 enemy. He publicly favoured the White Rose 
 pretender to the English throne, declared his 
 own opinion of the justice of de la Pole^s claim, 
 and promised to supply him with an army of 
 twelve thousand men at his own charges to as- 
 sist his proposed invasion of England, {b) At 
 the same time the duke d'Aubigny^s presence in 
 Scotland, where he now acted avowedly in con- a^AuSr 
 cert with Francis, and in favour of his interests, ;"^/^ot- 
 
 ' land. 
 
 (a) Turner's Henry VIII., c. x. 
 
 [b] Wingficld's Letter. MSS. Cotton. Galby, B. viii. 
 
378 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 VII. 
 
 was a serious evil, and was felt by Henry to be 
 more full of care and danger to his state, than 
 the often menaced invasion of de la Pole The 
 English monarch discovered he had incurred 
 the necessity of taking some further measures to 
 protect himself against the consequences of 
 Francis's hostility. He proposed, in concert 
 with the emperor, a truce, to continue for three 
 years, in which the Pope, Sforza, and the state 
 of Venice, should be included ; and that in the 
 mean time things should remain in their actual 
 condition. Francis^ who saw that the effect of 
 such a truce, would be to confirm his enemies 
 in the possession of such advantages as they had 
 gained^ and to afford them time for strengthening 
 their several armies^ and organising the attack, 
 which he had reason to apprehend from the 
 combined armies of England and Spain, unhe- 
 sitatingly rejected it, and expressed his deter- 
 mination to march into Italy as soon as the 
 approach of spring should enable him to move 
 his army. 
 Pro osais ^^^ treaty which had su1)sisted between 
 for renew- Prancc and the Venetians was now about to ex- 
 
 mg the 
 
 treaty be- pij-g aud Fraiicis had sent an ambassador for the 
 
 t'.veen ^ , . 
 
 Franceand purposc of aiTangiug its rcuevval, the aspect of 
 affairs in Italy rendering it more than ever de- 
 sirable that he should secure the assistance of so 
 powerful an ally as the state had proved itself. 
 The ministers of the emperor and the king of 
 England exerted themselves so powerfully with 
 the Venetian council, that they induced them to 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 379 
 
 pause upon again engaging in an alliance with chap. 
 
 Francis, and Montmorenci had been sent away 1_ 
 
 without any definitive answer. Girolamo Adorno, 
 the old enemy of Fran ce, represented the interests 
 of the emperor^ and by his talents and intrigue, 
 had effectually baffled the inexperienced Mont- traversed 
 inorenci, but dying suddenly, and being re- JgueVof 
 
 ,11 • • ^ 1 1 o 1 • Henry and 
 
 placed by a minister \^ ho possessed none oi his the empe- 
 
 ror. 
 
 information, the wavering councils of the re- 
 public seemed to incline again in favour of 
 France. The bishop of Bayeux had succeeded 
 to Montmorenci, and the latter again paid a 
 visit to the state, by the command of Francis, 
 for the purpose of communicating his plan 
 of invading Italy, and the particulars of the 
 armv and the names of its leaders, with which 
 he was preparing to effect that plan. The 
 English and imperial ambassadors who saw that 
 the delay which was taking place might be as 
 mischievous as the most hostile determination 
 of the senate, demanded an unequivocal reply 
 to their proposition for including Venice in the 
 alliance, which had been formed against France 
 within three days. A great difference of opin- 
 ion ensued in the council on the discussion theVene- 
 
 . . tian coun- 
 
 of this question. Andrea Gritti, the provvedi- cu. 
 tore, supporting the French cause, and Giorgio 
 Cornaro, a senator of great influence, favouring 
 that of the emperor. The arrival of a dispatch 
 at this critical moment from Giovanni Baduero, 
 the Venetian orator at the court of France, set- 
 tled the dispute, and induced the state to join 
 
 Debates in 
 
380 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, tije emperor's league. Baduero informed the 
 '. state, that the king had made so lavish an ex- 
 penditure during the carnival, which was then 
 just ended, that his resources were wholly ex« 
 hausted, and that he had no money left to be- 
 Francisac- o'm his Campaign with ; that he had in fact 
 dissipation abandoned all serious intention of undertak- 
 vagance'.'' iug it, aud that although he sometimes men- 
 tioned it in jesting conversations with tlie 
 companions of his excesses, lie never debated 
 it in council with his ministers ; that as it was 
 impossible for him to raise money by the sale 
 of any part of his dominions, which by the law 
 of France were inalienable, his only means of 
 procuring such as was wanted must be by new 
 taxes upon the people, which would inevitably 
 cause a civil war in France, the elements for 
 which were not wanting in the discontent of the 
 people and some of the nobility. Although 
 many of the statements in this letter were ex- 
 aggerated, and some of them wholly untrue, as 
 Francis's subsec|uent invasion of Italy with a 
 large and well appointed army, sufficiently 
 proved, it is clear that the conduct of the king 
 and his favourites at this period had given too 
 much reason for the popular discontent. The 
 most extraordinary part of its contents is, that 
 the orator states he had learnt, from good autho- 
 rity, that the constable de Bourbon, who had 
 been stripped of his property by the intrigues 
 of the duchess cFAngouleme and du Prat the 
 chancelloj', was in connnunication with the ene- 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 
 
 381 
 
 mies of his country, and that the kinsr had con- chap. 
 
 J * ~ VII. 
 
 ceived so violent a suspicion of his desi<rns, that '— 
 
 this circumstance alone would prevent his leaving* 
 his dominions. The event indeed proved that the 
 orator had ^ruessed well as to what the visible dis- 
 content of Bourbon was likely to produce, but at 
 the date of his letter nothing had taken place 
 which justified his assertion/oeyond perhaps the 
 moody menaces of that ill-treated nobleman. 
 Tlie letter of their envoy however determined the 
 senate. They relinquished the alliance of France, 
 avowing as their reasons for this measure, and by 
 which they were probably actuated, the indiffer- 
 ence which Francis had of late displayed to the in - 
 terests of his kingdom, his reckless love of 
 pleasure, and the prodigality of his expenditure, 
 which they believed would make his alliance 
 ineligible, because his assistance must in the 
 time of need be uncertain. They returned the TheVene- 
 
 •' tians refuse 
 
 answer which the minister of the confederate to renew 
 
 the treaty 
 
 powers had required, and entered into a treaty, with 
 by which they engaged to furnish six hundred and enter 
 men at arms, the like number of light cavalry with the 
 (which they had been the first to introduce into rates. 
 European warfare) and six thousand foot; on 
 condition that if the terra firma possessions of 
 the state should be attacked, the confederates 
 should defend them with a similar force, (a) 
 
 If anythino; could now have withdrawn the Rhodes at- 
 
 tucked bv 
 
 princes of Christendom from the unjust schemes the Turks. 
 which each of them was so earnestly pursuing, it 
 
 [a] Varillas, t. i. p. 201. Guicciardini, 1. xv. Belcar., 
 1, xvii. 
 
382 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, would have been the rapid progress of a power 
 
 "XT XT 
 
 ' which, always dangerous and hateful, had l)e- 
 come doubly so by their recent successes. So- 
 Ijman the Second had assumed the empire of 
 Turkey, and had given unquestionable proofs 
 of his disposition for war, and his talents in 
 conducting it, by the attacks he had made on 
 the frontiers of Hungary, and on the island of 
 Rhodes. He had invested Belgrade with a power- 
 ful and well-appointed army, and, after a gal- 
 lant defence, which was unsuccessful only because 
 it was unassisted, he had forced it to surrender, 
 and thus became master of a place which had 
 been justly considered a bulwark against the Ot- 
 toman encroachments. The island of Rhodes 
 was looked upon in the same light ; and here the 
 knights of the order of St. John of Jerusalem 
 had established themselves for the avowed pur- 
 pose of checking the power of the Turks. So- 
 lyman, who applied to all that he undertook 
 that energetic spirit which commands success, 
 sent four hundred ships^ and two hundred thou- 
 sand men against a fortress which, although it 
 was strong in its position, was defended by 
 no more than five thousand soldiers and six 
 The gal- hundred knights. The grand master of the 
 fenceofthe ordcr, ViUicrs de Tlsle Adam, was one of the 
 grandmas- jjqI)}^^^ spirits, aud ouc of thc most accompHshcd 
 
 soldiers of his time. The manner in which he 
 conducted the defence displayed the patience 
 and courage of his soul in an admirable point 
 of view. For the present he knew his force 
 
OF FRANCTS THE FIRST. 383 
 
 would effectually baffle the attack of the Turks; chap. 
 
 but he knew^ also, he must ultimately fall uu- '. — 
 
 less he received succours. In full confidence 
 that he should not appeal in vain to the Chris- 
 tian princes of Europe, he dispatched messen- 
 gers to their several courts, claiming their aid in 
 the common cause of relio-ion, and of defence 
 against the hateful power of the Turks. But 
 the animosity which rankled in the hearts of 
 Francis and Charles rendered them deaf to the 
 call of honour : they neglected the glorious 
 office of succouring the gallant defenders of 
 Rhodes, to carry on their dishonest quarrels, the 
 object of which was to dispossess each other of 
 some part of their states. The Pope, who felt 
 that the safety of the church, as well as its cre- 
 dit, was concerned in the cause of which the 
 knights of St. John were the champions, ex- 
 horted them to lay aside their quarrels, and to 
 unite their arms against the Turk. But his 
 call was unheeded. 
 
 Sol y man, in the mean time, pressed the attack, 
 and the grand master, who perceived that he must 
 encounter this formidable foe single-handed, put 
 in practice all the resources which a great mind 
 is capable of. His piety and enthusiastic devo- 
 tion to the religion for which he fought, were 
 manifested throughout the whole of the siege. 
 He celebrated, with as much calmness as if all 
 had been at peace, the offices of that religion, 
 and rushed from the altar to the ramparts to beat 
 back the infidels who assailed it. All that human 
 
384 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, gj^iii t|^(3 most unblencbiiiof couras^e, and inces* 
 
 VII. . • 1 
 
 -^— sant exertion could do, he etfected^ and was in all 
 
 nobly and cheerfully seconded by his knights. 
 During five months he kept his enemies at bay ; 
 and his sallies had been so well timed, and so 
 successfully executed, that immense numbers of 
 the Turks had fallen under the Christian swords. 
 For the last month he lay in the trenches^ with 
 no better accommodation than the common sol- 
 diers had, regardless of the climate, (the influence 
 of which was felt in the citadel^ and still more fa- 
 tally in the ranks of the infidels) ; and regardless 
 of his age, or of his rank, which might well have 
 entitled him to a respite from the fatigues and 
 dangers to which ofliers were exposed. At length 
 it was too clear that he must yield. He had 
 neither food nor ammunition ; of his brethren 
 of the order all were dead or dying ; and of 
 the troops there was but a miserable remnant. 
 
 The island Tlic walls of thc citadcl were so battered that 
 the whole place was little better than a heap 
 of ruins. Solyman, whose generous mind sym- 
 pathized with the sufferings of his noble ene- 
 my, granted him most honourable terms of 
 capitulation ; and the miserable remains of the 
 noble order of St. John of Jerusalem retired, 
 honourably to themselves, but to the disgrace 
 of all Christendom beside, from the place they 
 had so well defended, and the crumbling walls 
 
 The of which were lasting monuments of their 
 
 knights re- ^ ^ 
 
 tire. glory, [a] They sailed to Civita Vecchia, and 
 
 (a) Fontanus, de Bello Rhodio. — Gaillavd, t. ii. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 
 
 385 
 
 at first took up their quarters at Viterbo^ which chap. 
 
 the Pope granted them for their residence until '■ — 
 
 they should find one better suited to the pur- 
 poses of their institution. Francis and Charles 
 endeavoured to exculpate themselves from the 
 shame of not having assisted the knights, by im- 
 puting it to each other; and, some years after- 
 wards, Charles, who had then an object in se- 
 curing their services, made them a grant of the 
 island of Malta^ where they resumed their reli- 
 gious and military exercises, and renewed their 
 attacks upon the infidels^ which they carried on 
 with unabated animosity. 
 
 If any excuse can be made for Francis's su- 
 pineness^ when his own honour and the sympa- 
 thy which he ought to have felt for the gallant 
 defenders of Rhodes, and the interests of Christ- 
 endom called him to their defence^ it will be 
 found in the anxious cares which, at about this 
 time, pressed upon his mind, and the peril with 
 which he was threatened by his confederating 
 foes. The see of Rome was no longer filled by 
 an independent potentate. The daring plans of The policy 
 Julius, and the subtle contrivances of Leo, might °^'^^^^°p^- 
 be met, either by open force or counter-schemes 
 of policy ; but Adrian, feeble and irresolute, 
 was the mere minister of the will of the empe- 
 ror, who had raised him to that dignity, and to 
 whom he felt that he owed a sort of allegiance, 
 in respect to the temporal power which he pos- 
 sessed. He was AvhoUy ignorant of the genius 
 of the Italian people, and was utterly unac- 
 
 VOL. I. C C 
 
386 
 
 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 Italy 
 
 CHAP, quainted with such principles of policy as 
 '—- were adapted to their interests^ and were con- 
 sistent with the dignity of the church. He op- 
 posed vain prayers to the threatening and vic- 
 torious arms of Solyman^ while his respectful 
 submission to the emperor, and the senseless 
 animosity which he evinced against France, 
 impressed all the powers of Europe with a very 
 contemptible opinion of his capacity for go- 
 verning. His weakness compelled him to re- 
 sort for assistance to bolder and abler spirits. 
 Cardinal Whcu lic fi rst arrivcd in Italy he had distin- 
 piotswith guished the cardinal de' Medici by his favour ; 
 attack on but tlic Cardinal Soderini, bishop of Volterra, 
 the avowed enemy of de' Medici^ supplanted 
 him, first by counselling the Pope to measures 
 of neutrality, which were congenial to his timid 
 disposition, and afterwards by relieving him 
 from the burthen of pubhc business, it was by 
 these means that Soderini gained the confidence 
 of Adrian ; and the cardinal de' Medici^ who 
 perceived it too clearly^ withdrew from Rome, 
 and took up his residence at Florence. The 
 mortification which his disappointment occa- 
 sioned kept alive his vengeance ; and, having 
 reason to believe that his rivaPs designs tended 
 to favour Francis, he particularly enjoined the 
 Spanish ministers at Rome to watch Soderini 's 
 every movement. The event justified the accu- 
 racy of his observations. The cardinal of Vol- 
 terra, who believed that his darling project of 
 the destruction of the house of Medici could not 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 387 
 
 be effected but by means of the French arms, chap. 
 
 vn 
 had become the devoted partisan of Francis ; 1~ 
 
 and, although the name of the French king was 
 in such bad odour with Adrian, that to have 
 espoused his interests openly would have been 
 to destroy them^ Soderini covertly suggested 
 to Francis an attack on Sicily^ {a) which^ if it 
 had been promptly acted upon, would have 
 powerfully aided the re-conquest of the Mila- 
 nese, that Francis burned to achieve. The car- 
 dinal had kept up a correspondence with some 
 of the most powerful nobles in Sicily, with whom 
 the details of the plot were arranged. The 
 count de Camerata had undertaken to raise the 
 people as soon as a French flotilla should ap- 
 pear ; the commandant of the port of Palermo 
 had promised to surrender his place ; and the 
 treasurer was to provide lodging and subsis- 
 tence for the troops until the whole of the island 
 should be gained. All was ready, and Soderini 
 had dispatched an emissary, who had been ba- 
 nished from Sicily, with letters to his nephew, 
 the bishop of Saintes, desiring him to urge the 
 king to embark his troops for this expedition, 
 the certain consequence of which must have 
 been to compel the emperor to withdraw his 
 troops from the Italian frontier, and so to faci- 
 
 (a) He had written to his nephew, the bishop of Saintes, 
 and bade him advise the king to send a fleet against Sicily, 
 where many persons were well affected to him, and by means 
 of which enterprise he would compel the emperor to with- 
 draw some of the forces with which he occupied the Mila- 
 nese. — Belcar,, 1. xvii. 
 
 c c 2 
 
388 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, litate the entrance of the French army into the 
 
 VII • 
 
 I— Milanese. The spies of the Spanish envoys, 
 
 however, performed their office so well that So- 
 derini^s design was discovered. His messenger 
 was taken before he got out of the states of the 
 churchy his papers seized and deciphered, and 
 these proofs of his treachery laid instantly before 
 The plot is the Popc. Adrian acted on this occasion with 
 fndTJ^^' a decision which surprised every one. He had 
 imprisoned ^^c Cardinal seized, committed to prison^ and 
 ^lie^d^ tried on a charge of treason, in having attempted 
 to betray a fief of the church. He was convicted^ 
 and, although he escaped with his life, a great 
 part of his possessions were confiscated. His ac- 
 complices in the imagined treason were not so 
 fortunate. The count de Camerata^ the com- 
 mandant of the ports, and the treasurer, were 
 sentenced to be quartered. 
 Thecardi- Tlic Cardinal de' Medici, who, after his dis- 
 did sways appoiiitmeut in the succession to the papal dig- 
 coundr ^ nity, had retired to Florence, where he lived in 
 all the luxury and pomp of sovereign power, now 
 re-appeared. The determined rancour which 
 Adrian expressed against France was congenial 
 to the sentiments of de' Medici, and he soon 
 gained that ascendancy over the Pope which a 
 strong mind always possesses over a weak one, 
 and exerted it to gain Adrian to the party of 
 the emperor. For this purpose he, in the first 
 placCj effected a reconciliation between the Pope 
 and the rebellious feudatories, the only price of 
 which was that they should renounce their alii- 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 389 
 
 aiice with France. He then sent for Lannoy, chap. 
 
 viceroy of Naples^ who repaired immediately to '- — 
 
 Rome for the purpose of assisting him in this jllli^s n^r 
 design. Lannoy was one of the most adroit and p^rfy!^^'^ ^ 
 insinuatinsr of courtiers. He had first recom- 
 mended himself to the emperor's favour by his 
 skill in horsemanship ; but he had maintained 
 himself in it by more worthy means. He was 
 a Fleming as well as Adrian, and had been in 
 terms of intimacy with him during his adminis- 
 tration in Spain, These circumstances induced 
 the Pope to listen favourably to his representa- 
 tions, and to confide in their sincerity. He as- 
 sured his holiness that it was owing to Francis 
 alone that the proposition of attacking the Turks 
 had not been adopted^ and that it was the duty, 
 as well as the interest^ of the see of Rome to 
 take part against a monarch, whose designs 
 tended to the disturbance of all Italy. In short, 
 he so effectually urged his persuasions, that 
 Adrian entered into the emperor's league, en- 
 gaged himself to furnish men and money for 
 the furtherance of the designs of the confede- 
 rate powers, and procured such of the princes 
 and states of Italy as were under his influence 
 to follow his example, [a) 
 
 («) Belcar., 1. xvii. Variilas, 1. iv. 
 
CHAP. VIII. 
 
 Francis provifJes for the Defence of his Kingdom — 
 Raises an Army for the Attack of the Milanese — 
 Bonrhon^s Revolt — The Causes which led to it — 
 He is persecuted by the Duchess d^Angoulcme — His 
 Property sequestered — Neyociates icith the Emperor 
 and the King of England for an Attack on France 
 — The Details of his Plot — It is discovered by 
 Francis — The King visits Bourbon, and endea-- 
 vours to reconcile him — Bourbon^s Dissimulation — 
 Flies from France — Particulars of his Escape — 
 Proceedings against his Accomplices, and their re- 
 sult — Bourbon takes the Command of the Italian 
 Army — The Emperor attacks France from the 
 Spanish Frontier — The English Army, joined by 
 the Flemings, invades Picardy — They approach 
 Paris — -Are checked by the Duke de Vend6me — Re~ 
 treat — Termination of the Campaign. 
 
393 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 The confederacy against Francis was now 1523. 
 complete, and the designs of his enemies ap- Jgmcy"^^ 
 peared to triumph. By the league of Rome, g^S. 
 concluded this year, the Pope, the emperor, the 
 king of England, the states of Italy and of Ger- 
 many, in short almost all Europe, were associ- 
 ated against him. His hopes of regaining the 
 Milanese seemed to be destroyed for ever, and 
 the safety of his own dominions, which were now 
 menaced, required all his care and exertions. 
 It was at this time of peril, and when the storm 
 which was gathering about him had assumed 
 its most portentous aspect, that Francis proved 
 that the energy of his mind was not impaired by 
 the dissipation in which he had for a time too 
 culpably indulged. His spirit rose with the 
 occasion which required its strength. He re- 
 cruited his armies, made judicious arrangements 
 for the defence of his kingdom, and determined 
 to persevere in his attempt on the Milanese, to Hepre- 
 which, as he imagined, he was called, not less encounter 
 
 it. 
 
 by the interests of France, than by his own per- 
 sonal honour, which had somewhat suffered by 
 the late defeat and expulsion of his armies. His 
 own intentions, and the impression made on his 
 mind by the preparations of his enemies, were 
 explained in a speech addressed by him to a 
 
394 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 ^"^^- Spanish nobleman^ his prisoner,, on restoring 
 
 vni 
 
 him to freedom. The occasion, which called 
 for a loud lone, may somewhat justify expres- 
 sions that would otherwise be thought too os- 
 tentatious and menacing. '' I know/' he said^ 
 " that all Europe is banded against me, and that 
 therefore I must make head against all Europe ; 
 but I am fully prepared. I do not fear the em- 
 peror — for he has no money. I do not fear the 
 king of England — for my frontier of Picardy is 
 strong enough to defy his attack. I do not fear 
 the Flemings — for they are notoriously bad sol- 
 diers. As for Italy, that is my affair, and with 
 that I charge myself personally. I will march to 
 Milan ; I will take it : and I will have again, in 
 spite of my foes^ every inch of the territory they 
 have unjustly wrested from me." [a] 
 
 His prompt execution of this latter threat, 
 fJrth^^^ proved his earnestness. He provided first for 
 safety of the safctv of his frontiers, and then ordered his 
 
 his frontier. •' i i t i 
 
 various levies to march towards Lvons, where 
 they were to rendezvous. The White Rose^ de 
 la Pole^ prepared to lead thither a large force 
 of lanz-knechts, which he commanded, and^ 
 in addition to them, two thousand French in- 
 fantry he had raised in Picardy. The admiral 
 Bonnivet, and de Lorges, had gone onwards, 
 and had made themselves masters of the Pas de 
 Suze, the importance of which^ to an army 
 descending into Italy, the experience of for- 
 mer years had shewn. Montniorenci had abo 
 
 [a] Gaillaid, 1. ii. c. 0. 
 
 Raises an 
 army, and 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 395 
 
 C H A P. 
 VIII. 
 
 inarched twelve thousand men across tlie Alps, 
 and had joined the admiral near Turin, where 
 they were to wait the arrival of the king. All 
 things seemed as favourable as could be wislied 
 for his hazardous attempt^ when the discovery of 
 a domestic foe changed the face of his enterprise, 
 and brought more fatal evils upon his country, 
 and more dismay and bitterness upon his own 
 soulj than the utmost malice of his foreign ene- 
 mies could have effected. 
 
 The constable duke of Bourbon^ the first of Bourbons 
 
 revolt. 
 
 the noblemen of Prance, a soldier of great ta- 
 lents and approved skill, one upon whom Fran- 
 cis relied as the leader of his armies^ and whom 
 the people looked upon as the support of the 
 throne, against whose honour no whisper had 
 ever been breathed^, and whose loyalty to the 
 country^ and attachment to the king, had never 
 been doubted, had been long engaged in rebel- 
 lious negociations with the enemies of both, the 
 discovery of which was first made at the mo- 
 ment that Francis was setting out upon his 
 Italian expedition. In order to explain the 
 causes of an event which produced results so 
 important and so disastrous, it is necessary to 
 trace back their history. 
 
 Bourbon was the second son of Gilbert de The causes 
 Montpensier and Clara Gonzaga. His father Jo\t' * 
 was killed in the course of Charles the Eighth's 
 war against Naples ; his eldest brother is said to 
 have died of grief for his father's death, and his 
 youngest brother fell by his side in the early 
 
396 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 VIII. 
 
 part of the battle of Marignan. He had himself 
 appeared at court for the first time as the count 
 de Moiitpensier, on the occasion of Francises 
 marriage, and it was there that his personal at- 
 tractions inspired the duchess d^Angouleme with 
 that passion which afterwards proved her tor- 
 ment, and his ruin. 
 The Montpensier found it impossible to return 
 
 duchess , . . 
 
 d'Angou- the affection which the duchess had conceived 
 
 wishes to for him, and which she took no pains to con- 
 
 ^ ' ceal ; but as he was both poor and ambitious 
 
 he did not scruple to make use of her partiaHty 
 
 for the advancement of his fortunes. In the 
 
 hope of one day overcoming the indifference 
 
 which he manifested, she exerted her influence 
 
 with her son to raise him to command^ and 
 
 procured for him^ by her personal solicitations^ 
 
 and somewhat against the king's inclinations, 
 
 siie pro- the dionity of constable. Francis objected, and 
 
 cures him • i i i • 
 
 to be made uot without rcasoii, to tlic daugcrous impoUcy 
 of giving in those times the supreme command 
 of the army into any other hands than his own ; 
 but the persuasions of his mother^ and her 
 / adroit insinuations that it would be an honour- 
 able mark of confidence in his own strength to 
 fill an office which his four immediate prede- 
 cessors had been afraid to trust to a prince of 
 the blood, overcame his better judgment, and 
 the sword of France was confided to the keep- 
 ing of Montpensier, who was now more com- 
 monly called by his family name of Bourbon. 
 Afterwards the title devolved upon him by his 
 
5our- 
 bon. 
 
 OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 397 
 
 brother's death, and he formed a matrimonial chap. 
 
 connexion which most powerfully increased his L_ 
 
 wealth, and destroyed all the hopes of the du- 
 chess d^Angouleme. 
 
 The duchess de Bourbon, who, durino' the He marries 
 
 ^ ^ ^ Suzanne 
 
 minority of Charles VIII. had played so con- ^J^^ 
 spicuous a part in the troubles of the times^ un- 
 der the name of La Dame de Bourbon Beaujeu, 
 was still at the court. She enjoyed the reputa- 
 tion which her talents had entitled her to^ and 
 the recollection that she had preserved the 
 royal authority at a time when it was in peril, 
 and that she had conferred on the croAvn of 
 France the solid benefit of annexing to it the 
 duchy of Bretagne, by the marriage of her ward, 
 Charles VII I., with the heiress of that province, 
 still lived in the minds of the people. She had 
 exercised little influence during the reign of 
 Louis XII. who had no personal reason to look 
 on her kindly, and the jealousy of the duchess 
 d'Angouleme, who considered her as a rival, 
 had prevented her from taking any prominent 
 station since the accession of Francis ; but her 
 revenge was at hand. She had one daughter, 
 Suzanne, in whom was centred the title to the 
 domains of that branch of the house of Bour- 
 bon, from which she sprung. The constable, 
 who was the sole representative of his branch of 
 the same family, was prepared to dispute with 
 her this claim, and alleged that by virtue of the 
 provisions of the salic law, which applied to 
 this inheritance, the males of the same blood. 
 
398 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, however remote in deo^ree, were entitled to 
 
 VIII . 
 
 L_ succeed in preference to the females, however 
 
 near. The duchess de Bourbon resorted to 
 an obvious means of reconciling their various 
 claims without litigation^ and at the same time 
 of inflicting the heaviest blow upon her insolent 
 and powerful rival. She proposed a marriage 
 between Bourbon and his kinswoman, to which 
 he readily acceded, (a) and to which he obtain- 
 ed the cordial consent of Francis, who was pro- 
 bably not sorry to prevent the completion of 
 his mother's design of uniting herself with a 
 prince^ whose influence he already regarded 
 with some disquiet. 
 
 Thedis- The duchess d'Angouleme consoled herself 
 
 content of ,, | • ^ j a • • 
 
 theduchess as wcli as she might, by raising up an enemy to 
 ieme.^°" Bourboii, iu the person of the duke d^Alen9on, 
 who had been a suitor for the hand of the prin- 
 cess Suzanne, and to whom she gave in mar- 
 riage her own daughter Margaret^ afterwards 
 the celebrated cjueen of Navarre. Alengon dis- 
 appointed some of the expectations which his 
 mother-in-law had formed of him. He had 
 
 (a) However good Bourbon's claim might have been, 
 he had many forcible reasons for accepting a proposition 
 which relieved him from the necessity of making them out. 
 The patrimonial estates were heavily encumbered, as well 
 by the dower of the duchess, which was very large, and 
 which had been strictly secured by the cautious Louis XI., 
 as by an immense sum which she had expended in paying 
 off the debts and mortgages that had been accumulating for 
 many years, and for which she had a claim to be reimbursed 
 in the first place. — Varillas, t. i. p. 210. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. ~ 399 
 
 never loved the princess so well as to hate, on chap. 
 
 that account, the ri\ al who had snatched her — 
 
 from him ; and he was suspected of having* 
 '' the gift of cowardice " in too strong a degree 
 to engage in personal quarrel with a man of 
 Bourbon's prowess and valour. She did not 
 however^ because this agent failed, give up her 
 determination of persecuting' the object of her 
 recent love, and now of her most bitter and 
 rancorous detestation . By her intrigues she pro- 
 cured his pensions to be ill paid, and although 
 Bourbon, who had become by his marriage rich 
 even beyond his most prodigal desires, scorned to 
 complain, his mother-in-law, who loved disputes, 
 and who had moreover the right on her side, 
 made the court ring with her remonstrances 
 against this injustice. She had some lively con- 
 tests on the subject with the duchess d'Angou- 
 leme, which onlv increased their mutual ani- 
 mosity against each other. It was at length 
 promised that the pensions should be paid ; 
 but the promise was not performed. 
 
 Bourbon, in the mean time, always naturally Bourbons 
 
 ostenta- 
 
 inclined to splendour and expense, indulged his tiousdis- 
 disposition to an extent which approached os- wealth. 
 tentation. Contrary to his expectation (a) his 
 
 (a) Suzanne was ill liiade, and so infirm that there seemed 
 at the time of her marriage little probability of her having 
 issue. This presumption, aided by the nature of Bourbon's 
 claims, occasioned the contract of marriage to be drawn up 
 without any provision for children ; and by a clause of do- 
 nation mutuelle entre v'lfs^ the whole of the family posses- 
 sions were conveyed to Bourbon in the event of his surviving 
 
400 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, consort produced him a son^ and it was on this 
 
 '— occasion that he gave a superb fete^ at which 
 
 the king, whom Bourbon had soHcited to be the 
 sponsor for his heir, and the whole of the 
 court were present. Tlie splendour of this fes- 
 tival, which excited the king's jealousy^ is de- 
 scribed by Brantome in glowing terms, (a) '^ It 
 was so sumptuous,'^ he says, " that a king of 
 France could not have matched it^ for the tour- 
 neys^ masquerades^ dances, and concourse of 
 noblemen, the adherents of Bourbon^ of whom 
 there was an extraordinary number.^' Five 
 hundred of them were dressed in velvety which 
 at that time was an article of great cost, and 
 each of them wore a chain of gold passed thrice 
 about their necks, a decoration that was con- 
 sidered very splendid, and an indication of rank 
 and wealth. 
 
 The duchess d'Angouleme continued most 
 pertinaciously to direct incessant annoyances 
 against the constable^ whom it was easier for her 
 now to hate than to forget that she had once 
 loved. She aided the intrigues of the countess de 
 Chateaubriant, because they tended to annoy 
 Bourbon ; and his recall from Milan was not more 
 agreeable to her because it mortified him, than 
 because it brought him again to the court. She 
 
 his wife. The bride, at the time this contract was executed, 
 wanted a few weeks of attaining her fourteenth year, and 
 it was upon this circumstance that the subsequent litigation 
 between the duchess d'Angouleme and Bourbon was found- 
 ed. — Varillas, t. i. p. 212. 
 
 (a) Hommes Illustres. Bourbon. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 401 
 
 afterwards induced the king to commit the van- chap. 
 
 guard of the army at Valenciennes to the con- 1— 
 
 temptible duke d'Alen^on^ and had the gratifi- 
 cation of knowing that this affront went to the 
 heart of her victim, who in his rage uttered 
 some disrespectful expressions against her, which 
 are said to have been too gross to be repeated,, 
 and which appear to have been as unjust as 
 they were indecent, (a) The death of the du- 
 chess Suzanne, which took place on the 28th of Death of 
 April, 1521, (^) by reviving hopes which the de^Bour!^* 
 duchess d'Angoulenie had not been able to ex- 
 tinguish, occasioned a pause in her resentment. 
 She is said now to have openly offered Bourbon 
 her hand, and to have promised to repair all 
 the injuries she had done him, by raising' him 
 to the first power in the state, and sharing 
 with him the influence which she possessed over 
 the mind of Francis. But the constable's dis- 
 like had now amounted to disgust ; he repelled 
 her offers with contempt, and left her to pur- 
 
 (a) The duchess d'Ang-ouleme, who had piqued herself 
 upon the chastity she had preserved during- a widowhood, 
 which commenced in her seventeenth year, is said to have 
 been most enrag^ed at some allusions which Bourbon made 
 to a miller of Cugnac, an estate which belonged to the 
 duchess, and to whom, he said, Francis in face and figure 
 bore a resemblance so striking- that it could not be for- 
 tuitous. — Varillas, t. i. p. 215. 
 
 [b] This duchess left no issue ; the child, whose baptism 
 has been mentioned, and two others which she had after- 
 wards, having- died soon after their births. 
 
 VOL. I. D D 
 
Bourbon 
 estates. 
 
 402 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, g^ie ^i|g destructive plans to which her despair 
 
 vni. 
 '— prompted her. («) 
 
 chessd'An- With the assistance of the subtle chancellor 
 ?Sims"the du Prat, who had reasons of personal dislike 
 to the constable, (6) she made a claim to the 
 estates which the late duchess had brought to 
 him, on the ground that, as that princess had 
 died without issue of the marriage, she, as 
 the next in blood, the daughter of her father's 
 sister, was entitled to succeed to the inheritance. 
 Besides the old claim which the duke had for- 
 merly set up as male heir^ the terms of the mar- 
 riage-contract had fully confirmed his right to 
 this possession ; but the litigious spirit of du 
 Prat suggested that the contract was informal,, 
 owing to the minority of the late duchess at the 
 time of its execution ; and that the sanction of 
 a sentence by a civil judge, which could alone 
 have cured that defect, had not been procured 
 previously to the marriage. To this it was re- 
 
 [a] It has been said, but upon no better authority than 
 that of an old tradition, that Francis himself proposed his 
 mother to Bourbon, and that in consequence of Bourbon's 
 expressing- his rejection of the proposition in terras disre- 
 spectful to the honour of the duchess, a quarrel ensued, in 
 which Francis struck him a blow. The story is altogether 
 fabulous ; and Gaillard, who relates it, (1. ii. c. vi.) adds, 
 *' if Bourbon had been rash enough to provoke such an in- 
 sult, he would also have been rash enough to revenge it on 
 the spot." 
 
 [b] The constable had refused a request which he had 
 made respecting the grant of an estate in Auvergne, near 
 Verrieres, where du Prat was born, and which he wanted 
 to purchase. — Varillas, t. i. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 403 
 
 plied, on the part of the duke, that tlie marriage 
 had been authorized by the express consent of 
 the king', in whom resided the supreme power 
 in all matters civil ; and that the formality of a 
 sentence was no more necessary to give effect 
 to a civil contract entered into in his presence, 
 than was a formal ecclesiastical license neces- 
 sary to a marriage which had been celebrated by 
 a bishop in person. 
 
 Proceedings were instituted in this dispute, 
 w hich became so celebrated by the evils which 
 sprung from it. The duchess and the chancel- 
 lor had succeeded in gaining the king to their 
 side. Some jealousy of Bourbon^s power and 
 talents had piepared his mind for this feeling, 
 and the cold and distant haughtiness of the 
 duke's manner, which, though merely a natural 
 habit in him, was wholly uncongenial to Fran- 
 cis's disposition, had confirmed a dislike which 
 was not the less profound, because it was var- 
 nished over by that cold politeness with w hich 
 the etiquette of a court conceals the emotions of 
 the heart. Francis was induced too by his law- 
 ad vivjcrs, to prefer a claim to some part of the 
 disputed property, on the ground that it had 
 fallen to the crown by escheat. The judges, 
 who were venal to the last degree, were gained 
 over by the chancellor, and his own perverse 
 ingenuity, his intimate knowledge of all the 
 acts of legal chicane, and the resolute industry 
 w ith which he applied them to make the worse 
 
 D D 2 
 
 CHAP. 
 VIII. 
 
404 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 VIII. 
 
 appear the better cause, triumphed over the 
 
 plain justice of the case. 
 estates^^re Bourbou fclt that hc was opposed by a power 
 sequester- ^-^^j^j. ^y^jd^ j^g must siiik ; but this, instead of 
 
 inducing him to submission^ animated him first 
 to resistance, and^ that failing, drove him to 
 seek revenge for the infamous oppression to 
 which he had been exposed. The provinces 
 of the Bourbonnois, Auvergne^ la Marche^ le 
 ForeZj Beaujolois, and the principality of Dom- 
 bes, with numerous other estates of great value, 
 were the objects of the litigation ; and these 
 the parliament of Paris ordered to be put under 
 sequestration until the final sentence^ of the na- 
 ture of which this was too evident an indica- 
 tion, should be pronounced. His indignation 
 knew no bounds^ and the language in which he 
 expressed himself, partook of the violence of 
 his feelings. The angry spirit of his mother-in- 
 law, the duchess de Bourbon Beaujeu^ added to 
 his irritation, and prepared his mind for the 
 most desperate plans of revenge. Upon her 
 death-bed^ and soon after the parliament had 
 pronounced the sentence^ which is believed to 
 have hastened her dissolution^ she bequeathed 
 to the constable the claim she had on the dis- 
 puted estates, and recommended him to seek 
 the assistance of the emperor in compelling his 
 enemies to do him right, (cf) 
 
 (a) This fact is stated by the bishop of Autun in his de- 
 {>osition in the process against the constable, and he adds 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 
 
 405 
 
 The watchful emperor had been no inatten- c"^^p- 
 
 . . . VIII. 
 
 five observer of the events which were passing in '— 
 
 France, and when an envoy whom Bourbon sent ciatrs^wth 
 to Spain arrived there, he found the emperor p^ro^r^nd 
 prepared to engage in the execution of his plans. EngUnd.°^ 
 A negociation was immediately entered into be- 
 tween them, and Bourbon plunged at once into #^ 
 an enterprise which, whether it failed or suc- 
 ceeded^ must have been equally injurious to his 
 fame and his happiness. It is impossible to 
 deny that he committed himself deliberately to 
 an extensive scheme of rebellion against the 
 king and the state ; and although it would be 
 difficult to offer an excuse for such a crime, it 
 must be confessed that Bourbon was driven to 
 extremities in themselves utterly unjust and 
 most hard for so high a temper as his to brook. 
 His rank J his kindred with the king;, the valour 
 and the skill which he had exerted so often and 
 so usefully in support of the throne, entitled 
 him to consideration. He found that all his 
 claims were forgotten ; that he was denied that 
 which the poorest man in France had a right to 
 — a pure and impartial administration of the 
 laws ; that he was threatened with total spolia- 
 tion ; and that neither the justice of his cause, 
 nor his past services, could protect him against 
 the united oppression of a profligate judge, a 
 
 that the duchess also recommended him to ask for the hand 
 of Eleanora, the widowed queen of Portugal, in marriage. — • 
 Gaillard, 1. ii. c. vi. 
 
406 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. Yvicked and resentful woman, and a king who 
 
 '— was weak enough to abet their practices, {a) 
 
 The emperor had sent into France the lord 
 of Beaurein, a relation of Chievres^ his late 
 tutor, in the beginning of 1523, and with him 
 Bourbon stipulated that the emperor should as- 
 ^ sist him in recovering the estates of which he 
 had been unjustly deprived ; that the bond of 
 their union should be his marriage with the 
 emperor's sister, the queen of Portugal, to 
 whom he would give, as her jointure^ his pro- 
 vince of Beaujolois. But Bourbon^s animosity 
 was inflamed to such a pitch, that the mere res- 
 titution of his own property would not satisfy 
 him. He concerted with the emperor's envoy the 
 ^, means of enoaoino- the kins' of Ensrland in the 
 
 rlans an n n n a n 
 
 attack on gchcme, and to this end the lord of Beaurein 
 
 trance. 
 
 was dispatched to England on the part of the 
 emperor, while Bourbon sent M. de Chasteau- 
 fort on his own behalf (6) with offers to Henry, 
 
 (a) The duchess urged Bonnivet to build upon his estate, 
 as near to Chatelherault as possible, a magnificent castle, 
 and the favourite's compliance with this request, added to 
 other insolences of which he had to complain, the constable 
 afterwards confessed stung him deeply, and drove him to 
 seek revenge and redress in rebellion. — Varillas, t. i. 
 
 {b) Bourbon's letter is among the Cotton MSS. It is 
 addressed to Wolsey, and is in the following terms — " Mon- 
 sieur le Legat. J'envoye le sieur de Chasteaufort, mon 
 conseil et chambellan de par de la pour les raisons que je 
 lui ai charge vous dire. Je vous prie le croire pour cette 
 fois comme moi-meme ; et par lui me mander si choses 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 407 
 
 well calculated to excite his ambition as well as chap. 
 avarice, and which presented to him the prospect — ^"^' 
 of ascending the throne of France when its 
 present possessor shoidd have been displaced. 
 The English ambassadors in Spain Avere autho- 
 rized to treat with Bourbon, on condition of his 
 swearing homage and fealty to Henry as king ^ 
 of France. Beaurein arrived soon afterwards in 
 England, arranged the terms upon which Henry 
 was to invade France in co-operation with Bour- 
 bon, and of an expedition which the emperor 
 was to send from Spain. Sir John Russell went 
 afterwards secretly, and in disguise, to Bourbon 
 at Bourg en Bresse, where he received from him 
 a pledge that he would fulfil the conditions of 
 the compact, and preparations were consequently 
 made for the advance of an English army upon 
 Normandy, in the manner specified. («) 
 
 It is difficult to say whether Bourbon was in 
 earnest in making this offer, the practicability of 
 which Henry himself seems to have doubted ; (6) 
 
 voullez que je puisse, et je les ferai de tres bon coeur. Votre 
 bon cousin, Charles." — Vitell. B. v. f. 184. 
 
 [a] Turner's Henry VIII., c. xi. 
 
 (6) One day Beaurein, in conversation with the king- of 
 England, was trying to convince him that Bourbon might 
 be relied on, and for this purpose explained to him how 
 much his interests were engaged in the enterprise, and the 
 share he was to have if it succeeded. " And what shall I 
 have for my share?" bluntly asked Henry. '^ Sire," i-e- 
 plied Beaurein, " you shall be king of France." *' But how 
 shall I manage to make this same Monsieur de Bourbon 
 obey me ?" rejoined Henry ; a proof that he well understood 
 the character of the constable. — Gaillard, 1. ii. c. 6. ' 
 
408 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 13^1^ j^ jg certain that it was made. In the mean 
 
 VIII. 
 
 . '— time the odiousness of such a project was con- 
 cealed under the specious pretence " that the 
 duke of Bourbon, by the mis-order, evil gover- 
 nance, and wild demeanour of the French king- 
 hath applied his mind for the relief of the 
 I commons, to redress these enormities ;*' and he is 
 stated to have entered into those measures " for 
 the common weal of the realm of France, and 
 for the reformation of the enormities and abuses 
 used by the French king^ upon what ground it 
 is thought he may, with his honour^ proceed 
 hereunto/ '(a) 
 
 Throughout the whole of the harassing pro- 
 ceedings of the suit, there was one person 
 whose kind and disinterested friendship con- 
 soled Bourbon, and had made him hesitate before 
 he listened implicitly to the suggestions of his 
 anger. This was the amiable Claude, Francis's 
 queen. She saw with pain and disgust the 
 mischievous intrigues of which he was the vic- 
 tim, and did all in her power to save to her 
 consort and her kingdom^ one of its ablest de- 
 fenders. With this view she had proposed a 
 marriage between her sister^ Renee, and the 
 duke, for which he was extremely desirous, but 
 which was afterwards broken off, in a manner 
 that greatly enhanced the bitterness of the dis- 
 appointment. (/>) Other mortifications were fre* 
 
 (a) Turner's Henry VIII., vol. i. c. xi,, and the MSS. 
 there ciled. 
 
 [b] It was said to be because the princess objected to an 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 
 
 409 
 
 quently supplied him by the indefatigable du- ^"^p- 
 
 chess, and at length the king*, who iiad some - 
 
 reason to suspect the constable's negociation suTp"JcTs 
 with the emperor, insulted him in the presence ccs'^bTuT-" 
 of the queen and the court in so pointed a ^''"' 
 manner that it was impossible he could endure 
 it. The story is told in a letter to Wolsey, by . 
 Sir Thomas Boleyn, then the English ambas- 
 sador at the court of the emperor, from whom 
 he had the relation. («) '' The emperor/* he 
 says_, '' shewed us that the duke came to 
 Paris, and coming to the court at the time 
 of dinner, the queen (Claude) commanded him 
 to sit at her board ; for the king and she dined 
 apart that day. The king, hearing of his being 
 there, the more shortly ended his dinner, and 
 came to the queen's chamber. The duke seeing 
 the king, was rising to do his duty. The king 
 commanded him to sit, and not to rise from his 
 dinner, and then saluted him with these words : 
 ' Seigneur, it is shewed us that you be or shall 
 be married. Is it truth?' The duke said it 
 was not so. The king said that he knew it was 
 so ; moreover saying, that he would remember 
 it ; and that he knew his traffic ^\ ith the em- 
 peror ; eftsoons repeating that he ^vould remem- 
 ber it. The duke answered and said, ' Sir ! 
 
 union with a nobleman who, if the procees should be ulti- 
 mately decided against him, would be one of the poorest in 
 Europe. 
 
 (a) MSS. Harl,, No. 295, p. 134. 
 
410 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, then you menace and threaten me. I have de- 
 
 1_ served no such cause ;^ and so departed. After 
 
 dinner the duke went to his lodging, and all 
 the noblemen of the court with him. The next 
 day he departed from the court to the country. 
 He (Boleyn) said, if the king spoke so much, it 
 was marvail that he suffered the duke to depart. 
 The emperor said that he durst not otherwise 
 do, all the great personages so favoured him.^^ 
 Bourbon This confirmcd Bourbon in the belief that his 
 ws"com-^ plans were discovered, and that the necessity of 
 ch^arkf^ preserving his life was now added to the other 
 and Henry. jjrjQtjygg j^g j^^d to make Fraucis feel how un- 
 worthily he had treated him. He despatched 
 a confidential person to England, confirmed 
 his negociations with the emperor, and set him- 
 self without delay about securing as many ad- 
 herents as he could to the cause which he had 
 undertaken. The circumstances of his plan are 
 minutely detailed in the process which was after- 
 wards instituted against him and his partisans. 
 The details Amoug thosc ou whosc assistaucc he most re- 
 of his plot. |-g^^ ^^^g ^YiQ count St. Vallier, his friend and re- 
 lation, and who had besides some personal reason 
 to be dissatisfied with the king's behaviour to 
 him. St. Vallier deposed when he was exa- 
 mined before the council, that having visited 
 the constable one day at Montbrisson, he took 
 him into a closet, and having made some appeals 
 to his tried friendship and regard, he produced 
 to him a reliquary, in which there was a piece 
 of the true cross. He told him that he was 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 411 
 
 about to confide to his keeping a secret on whicli 
 his life depended, and requested him to swear 
 that he would never reveal it. St. VaUier liaving- 
 complied^ the constable recapitulated the va- 
 rious causes of complaint he had against the 
 king and his mother, with all the acrimony 
 which his wounded feelings suggested. St. 
 Vallier counselled him to apply to the king, 
 and to come to a full explanation with him ; 
 and suggested that Francis's natural sincerity 
 and integrity would compel him to do the duke 
 justice, if the causes of his discontent were fairly 
 stated. Bourbon replied, that the king, on whose 
 justice and generosity his friend so much in- 
 sisted, was so entirely under the influence of his 
 mother, that he could do nothing in opposition 
 to her counsel. " But I have other reasons, he 
 added. All princes are not as blind as he is.^^ 
 He then communicated to the count the ne- 
 gociations he had entered into with the em- 
 peror, and the offers which Charles had made 
 him. St. Vallier asked what guarantee he had 
 for the performance of promises so magnifi- 
 cent. " You shall judge for yourself,*^ replied 
 the constable, '' Beaurein is coming to sup with 
 me this evening ; you may hear what he says, 
 and you will then see that your friend is not 
 held everywhere in the scorn which it is his fate 
 to encounter here." St. Vallier was present at 
 the meeting to which the duke alluded, heard 
 the conversation, and the renewal by Beaurein 
 of the promises on the part of the emperor. 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 vni. 
 
412 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 VIII. 
 
 On the following' day St. Vallier had another 
 secret conversation with the constable^ in which 
 he said he exerted all his powers of persuasion 
 for the purpose of deterring him from the dan- 
 gerous enterprise he was engaged in. After a 
 night of meditation on that enterprise^ and the 
 manner in which it was to be effected, he ex- 
 pressed his own opinion that its issue must 
 be fatal ; that the duke would either ruin his 
 country, or be ruined himself, and he besought 
 liim to weigh well this dreadful choice of alter- 
 natives. " if your secret transpires,^^ he said, 
 '' you will perish by an infamous death. If 
 your designs succeed, you carry your sword 
 and your talents into the service of people wlio 
 have been used to tremble at your very name. 
 You go to use that sw^ord and those talents 
 against your country, your kindred^ and your 
 friends — against all who are dearest to you. It 
 is true that you have cause of complaint against 
 the woman who now hates you^ only because she 
 has loved you too well — against the king who 
 would esteem you, if you would let him ; but what 
 cause of complaint have you against the queen, 
 against the king's children, who are of your own 
 bloody and whose natural protector you ought to 
 be ? — what cause of complaint against that ge- 
 nerous nobility, who have taken you for their 
 model, and whom you have often led to victory ? 
 — what against that people of whom you are the 
 hero and the idol, who love you for your own 
 sake, who burn with indignation at the wrongs 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 413 
 
 you have endured, and who detest the hands by chap. 
 
 •^ -- VIII 
 
 which those wrongs have been inflicted ? Whatever -1_ 
 
 evils fortune may visit upon you, it is by your- 
 self alone that your glory can be tarnished. At 
 present nothing dims its histre, and your injuries 
 even add to it. Would you change this state of 
 things for one in which your country, groaning 
 under the domination of ruthless strangers, 
 shall raise its cry to heaven against you, while 
 posterity will denounce you as at once the 
 scourge and the opprobrium of France. 
 
 Bourbon interrupted this passionate harangue 
 by exclaiming with bitterness that it was by the 
 machinations of his enemies that he had been 
 driven to this extremity ; that they had stripped 
 hiixi — reduced him to nothing ; and that he had 
 no choice but to extricate himself from the 
 misery into which they had plunged him^ how- 
 ever violent might be the measures to which he 
 should resort. The conversation was conti- 
 nued untilj as St.Vallier relates, both parties 
 were moved to tears, and it ended by Bourbon's 
 promising to relinquish his culpable designs. 
 They parted, and it was not until after his 
 flight that St. Vallier learnt how intirely his pro- 
 mise had been broken. Such, at least, is the ac- 
 count which St. Vallier gave of this matter, and in 
 which he persisted even on the scaflTold. It may 
 be true in the main ; but it obviously tells so 
 much in favour of the person by whom it is 
 made, that its complete impartiality must be 
 questionable. ^ 
 
414 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. j|- jg certain that, if Bourbon made any such 
 
 VIII. . . . . 
 
 -^ promise as is alleged by St. Vallier, he neither 
 
 scheme is kept, nor intended to keep it. On the contrary, 
 discovered. ^^ ^^^^^ cmissarics to engage such persons as 
 
 were favourable to his cause, or could he in- 
 duced to join it, throughout France ; and it was 
 by the failure of one of these attempts that the 
 whole extent of his machinations was disco- 
 vered to Francis. Lurcy, the constable's con- 
 fidential secretary, had been sent on this dan- 
 gerous errand to Normandy. Bourbon had 
 previously w ritten to two gentlemen of note in 
 that province, whose names were Matignon and 
 d'Argouges informing them that Lurcy was on 
 his way to make a communication to them on 
 his part, and requesting them to meet him at 
 an inn in Vendome, which the letter pointed out, 
 on a certain day. They were true to their ap- 
 pointment, and were met by Lurcy, who, hav- 
 ing taken the precaution of swearing them upon 
 the gospels that they would disclose to no one 
 the secret he was about to impart to them, re- 
 vealed the scheme of the constable's conspiracy, 
 solicited them to engage in it, and promised them 
 that the constable would send a certain number of 
 persons to act for him in Normandy, but he direct- 
 ' ed his persuasions principally to induce them to 
 
 facilitate the entrance of the English forces which 
 were destined for Picardy, and even to make a 
 journey to England connected with that object. 
 He had, however, mistaken the persons whom he 
 addressed. They were shocked and alarmed at 
 
OF, FRANCIS THE FIRST. 415 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 viir. 
 
 the proposition ; and, having quitted the secre- 
 tary, returned home to deUberate upon future 
 measures. They woukl instantly have revealed 
 all that they knew, but were restrained by the 
 scruple of violating the oath they had taken. In 
 this embarrassment they solicited the advice of 
 a priest, to whom, under the seal of confession, 
 they disclosed their portentous secret ; and the 
 priest made the best use of it by informing the 
 seneschal of Normandy of its purport. Ma- 
 tignon and d'Argouges, alarmed for the conse- 
 quences of this discovery to themselves, hastened 
 in all speed to the king, who had begun his 
 march, and who was then at St. Pierre en Mou- 
 tier, on his way to Lyons. They threw them- 
 selves at his feet, and repeated to him a full con- 
 fession of all thev knew. 
 
 Francis saw now that what he had before only Piands 
 
 ,1 ^• 1 ■ *A 1^1 visits and 
 
 suspected was realized in its most dangerous remon- 
 shape. He determined to secure the constable*s BourbJn"' 
 person ; but, as he had only a slight escort w itli 
 him, and as the constable was in a province 
 where his very name was adored^ he resolved to 
 wait until the levies, under the command of 
 Rose Blanche, which were then on their march 
 towards Lyons, should come up. In the mean 
 time he resolved to try if he could not yet re- 
 gain his lost friend by gentle means^ which, if 
 they had been earHer resort= d to, would^ in 
 all probability, have prevented the mischievous 
 practices in which he had engaged. The king 
 immediately turned out of his road, and went to 
 
416 THE LIFE AND TlxMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 VIII. 
 
 Moulins^ where Bourbon was, and where, that he 
 might not be called upon to follow the king, he 
 had feigned to be detained by ilhiess. Francis 
 began a conversation with him in a tone which 
 was well enough calculated to secure the fidelity 
 of the constable, if he had not already gone too 
 far in his revolt to retract. " They tell me,'^ 
 said he, "- that you are vexed with the circum- 
 stances which have recently happened, and I 
 can conceive that you are so not without reason. 
 I am told too that you have forgotten your alle- 
 giance to France, and that you are in treaty 
 with the emperor. This I will not believe any 
 more than that you can think I will see you de- 
 prived of your property. Serve me only as you 
 have served me before — be but faithful to your 
 king and to your own reputation, and you shall 
 have no cause to complain^ whatever may be 
 the result of the suit which is now befcire the 
 parliament.'' {a) 
 Bourbon's Bourbou was not taken by surprise, even at 
 
 dissimula- , ". . 
 
 tio"- the candour of this proceeding. (<6) Avowing 
 so much of the truth as answered his own purpose, 
 and yet was calculated to mislead the king, he 
 told him it was true that the comte de Beaurein 
 had made him certain offers on the part of the 
 emperor ; that he had never intended to conce d 
 this fact from the king^ but that, surrounded as 
 
 (a) Du Bellay, 1. ii. p. 265. 
 
 {h) ** Which might have been all very well," says Bran- 
 tome, *' si M. de Bourbon eut ^te un fat." — Hommes Illus- 
 tres, Francois I. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 41t 
 
 lie was by enemies who exerted themselves too chap. 
 successfully to turn every thing that he said or ^'"^- 
 did to his disadvantage, he had resolved to com- 
 municate it to no one but the kiug personally ; 
 that he knew he was coming to Moulins, and 
 that he had waited only for that opportunity to 
 make this disclosure. The king's suspicions 
 were dissipated by the apparent sincerity of the 
 constable, who expressed the most ardent desire 
 to accompany him in his Italian campaign, and 
 regretted vehemently the illness which then con- 
 fined him to his bed, but which his medical 
 attendants, he said, assured him would be so far 
 abated in the course of a few days, that he should 
 be able to travel in a litter, and to join the king 
 at Lyons. Francis contented himself with re- 
 ceivingfrom Bourbon a promise in writing that 
 he would fulfil all the duties of a loyal subject^ 
 and by sending a confidential emissary, Perrot 
 de la Bretonniere, seigneur de \^ arty, to Mou- 
 lins, for the ostensible purpose of inquiring after 
 the state of his health, but, in truth, to watch his 
 progress, and to bring him to Lyons as soon as 
 he should be able to travel. 
 
 Bourbon, who knew well the character in 
 which \^ arty visited him, determined to get rid 
 of him as soon as possible. He affected to ex- 
 perience relapses, which prevented his putting 
 his intention of joining the king into effect. He 
 received Warty in his bed-room, but not until 
 several davs after his arrival. He told him, that 
 he hoped soon to be able to join the king, took a 
 
 VOL. I. E E 
 
418 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, sliort walk in his garden on that day, and express- 
 
 L_ ed an intention of trying on the morrow tiie effect 
 
 of some slight exercise in the park ; ^vhen, hav- 
 ing by degrees accustomed himself to air and the 
 fatigue attendant on moving about^ he hoped by 
 the Friday or Saturday following (this was on 
 the Wednesday^) to commence his journey^ which 
 he proposed to make by short stages. With this 
 information Warty was compelled to depart to 
 the king, who published the news with some ex- 
 ultation at his levee. A week elapsed^ andFran- 
 ciSj receiving no news of Bourbon's having com- 
 menced his journey^ sent Warty to him again^ 
 with express orders not to leave him until he 
 was on his route. Warty met him on the road^ 
 travelling in a litter^ in which he reached St. 
 Geran. '' I am more impatient,^* said the con- 
 stable^ '' to be with the king than he can be to 
 see me ; but the state of my health is such as 
 prevents my journeying more rapidly.'^ Warty 
 remained with him, and travelling' at the rate 
 of about two leagues a day, they reached La 
 Palice. There the constable was said to have 
 had a bad night, and his medical attendants 
 brought Warty to see him in bed. " I am very 
 ill,^^ he said^ " but I shall be better by nighty 
 when I will set out ; or if not^ I will make a 
 double stage tomorrow.^' The evening came, 
 but Bourbon was not able to go on. The whole 
 household was in alarm, and the officers and 
 servants were up with him during the night, 
 while the physicians and apothecaries were in- 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 419 
 
 cessantly in his bed-room. On the folio wing- 
 day they pronounced him to be in danger^ and _ 
 absolutely forbade his further progress for the 
 present. Warty had another interview with him 
 at a late hour on this da}^ when the constable 
 told him^ with an affectation of confidence, that 
 lie felt himself worse than even his medical at- 
 tendants imagined ; and he added, with a re- 
 fined dissimulation^ that the bitterest thought 
 he had in dying was^ that he was no longer 
 able to serve the king. It will be remembered 
 that this is the account given by Warty ; but it 
 would be not less injurious to the reputation of 
 the constable than it would be difficult to believe 
 that he could condescend to meanness like that 
 which was here imputed to him. Bourbon 
 added^ that his physicians had recommended to 
 him, as a last remedy^ to try the air of his own 
 country ; and then, by way of cutting off all 
 reply from his unwelcome visitor, he tin'iied 
 round in his bed^ and expressed a wish to go 
 to sleep. Warty^ who found that his presence 
 was productive of no good, determined to go 
 back to the king ; and on the Sunday following 
 he returned with a dispatch from Francis, full of 
 remonstrances, reproaches, and promises. War- 
 ty, on his arrival at La Palice^ found that the con- 
 stable had left it^ and had gone to his castle of 
 Chantelle, in which, from its strength^ he thought 
 himself more secure than at Moulins. Warty 
 followed him, and the suspicions which he had 
 entertained were confirmed, when he learnt from 
 
 E E 2 
 
 c n A p. 
 
 VIII. 
 
420 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 VIII. 
 
 a boatman at Varenne sur I'Allier, that tlie con- 
 stable had passed^ mounted on a hackney^ and 
 apparently in perfect health. Warty dispatched 
 intelligence of this fact to the king, and went 
 himself to Chantelle^ which place he reached 
 within an hour after the constable, and which 
 he found well secured, with the guns on the bat- 
 tlements pointed, and prepared for defence. 
 
 After some vain efforts, and much waiting". 
 Warty procured admission to the constable. 
 " You spur me hard, sir/^ said Bourbon. " Your 
 grace's spurs must be better than mine,'' replied 
 Warty, " for you have travelled hither much 
 faster than I." The constable then told him 
 plainly, that he had taken this step in the be- 
 lief that the king had intended to have put him 
 under arrest as soon as he should have reached 
 Lyons. He complained bitterly of the intrigues 
 that were carrying on for the destruction of his 
 fortune and of his very name^ and confessed that 
 it was with a view of securing himself against 
 those machinations that he had thrown himself 
 into this place of defence. He then entrusted 
 to Warty's care certain letters for the king^ for 
 the Bastard of Savoy^ and for the marechal de 
 Chabannes, assuring him at the same time^ that 
 he did not intend to quit that place^ or that at 
 the most he did not intend to go above fi\e or 
 six leagues from it. " I am perfectly ready to 
 believe you,'' replied Warty^ '' for where could 
 your highness go ? the king has taken care that 
 you shall not quit the realm.'' '' And I have 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 421 
 
 MO inclination to do so, even if he had taken no chap. 
 
 such precaution/' rejoined the constable, " Fare ^— 
 
 well, deliver my letters.'^ 
 
 It appeared in the result that these letters had 
 been given to Warty^ merely for the purpose of 
 getting' rid of the presence of one who had al- 
 ways been disagreeable, and who was now more 
 than ever in the way of the constable's plans for 
 putting Chantelle into a posture of effectual de- 
 fence, (a) At the same time he despatched the 
 bishop of Autun to Francis^ with a letter signed 
 by himself, in which he repeated his assurances 
 of fidelity^ and begging that the king would 
 order the restoration of his property, and extend 
 his pardon to those who^ for their adherence to 
 his interests, had incurred his majesty's displea- 
 sure, [b) The bishop was the bearer also of 
 
 (a) In one of the depositions, it is stated, that the follow- 
 ers of the constable deliberated among themselves whether 
 they ought not to hang Warty upon the battlements as a 
 
 spy- 
 
 (b) The latter of these letters is preserved by du Bellay, 
 1. ii. p. 268. 
 
 " Monseigneur, je vous ay escrit bien amplement par 
 Perot d'TJvarty, depuis je vous ay depesch^ Tevesque 
 d' Autun present porteur, pour de tant plus par luy vous 
 faire entendre la volonte que j'ay de vous faire service: je 
 vous suplie, Mgr., le vouloir croire de ce qu'il vous dira de 
 par moy, ei vous asseurer sur mon honneur, que je ne vous 
 ferez jamais faute. De vostre maison de Chantelles le 7 de 
 Septembre. 
 
 *' Mais qu'il ploise au roy faire rendre les biens du feu 
 M. de Bourbon, il promit de le bien et loyaument servir, 
 et de bon cueur, sans luy faire faute, en tous endroits ou 
 il plaira audit seigneur, toutes et quantesfois qu'il luy plaira. 
 
422 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, secret instructions, in which Bourbon desired 
 
 VIIT. . . 
 
 1_ him to stipulate for an entire restitution' of his 
 
 estates^ as the only condition on which he would 
 engage to serve the king. Francis, who had 
 learnt the retreat of the constable to Chantelle, 
 saw in it the manifest proof of his intentions. 
 '' My kindness and plain deahng with him/' he 
 said bitterly, '' ought to have changed his heart ; 
 but since the traitor will rush upon his ruin, let 
 him perish/' He immediately despatched the 
 Bastard of Savoy,, and the marechal of Cha- 
 bannes, with a troop of gendarmes, to arrest 
 him. Within a short distance of Lyons^ they met 
 the bishop of Autun, whom they seized^ and 
 having examined his papers, they sent him un- 
 der an escort as a prisoner to the king. Francis, 
 without hearing him, ordered the papers of 
 which he was the bearer^ to be brought to him ; 
 and his rage was roused to its highest pitch 
 when he found that the constable proposed to 
 make terms with him, as if he had treated with 
 his equal. 
 The con- Immediately after he had freed himself from 
 Tom '^^ the untimely presence of Warty, Bourbon, who 
 had long determined on flying from the resent- 
 ment of Francis, was convinced that the time 
 had arrived when it was necessary to put his re- 
 solution into practice. He held a short consulta- 
 
 et de cela il I'en asseurera jusques au bout de sa vie : aussi 
 qu'il plaire audit seigneur pardonner a ceux auxquels il vent 
 inal pour celuy affaire. Et avoit signe lesdites instruc- 
 tions de sa main." — Da Bellay, 1. ii. 
 
 France. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 423 
 
 tioii with his adherents, in which some of them chap. 
 
 were of opinion, that it was advisable to stay in '— 
 
 the castle of Chan telle, which was a strong place, 
 and there resist any forcible attempt which the 
 king might make ; but Bourbon knew that to be 
 shut up in the middle of the kingdom, out of the 
 reach of succours, and slenderly supplied with 
 provisions, would be a situation too full of danger ; 
 he therefore overruled this opinion, and gave 
 orders for an immediate departure, w ithout how- 
 ever explaining the place of his destination, and 
 followed by four or five gentlemen only, he rode 
 before the day had closed, to Herment, a little 
 town in Auvergne. His train, small as it w as, 
 was still sufficiently numerous to excite suspicion, 
 and he here found it necessary to leave the greater 
 part of it behind him. In the middle of the night 
 he roused two of his followers in whom he placed 
 the greatest confidence, and imparted to them 
 his determination to gain Franche Comte, if it 
 were possible, at the same time representing to 
 them the necessity of an immediate departure. 
 They were Pomperant and Montagnac Tau- 
 sannes. Both were strongly attached to him, 
 and Pompei'ant owed him his life; for, having 
 killed Chissay, the king's favourite, and the 
 most noted gallant of the court, in a duel at 
 Amboise, the constable had first saved him by 
 his address, and by means of an escort of his 
 own followers, and had afterwards obtained his 
 pardon, {a) Tausannes had been his confiden- 
 
 («) Varillas, t. i. 
 
424 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. i[.^\ adviser and assistant in all the transactions 
 
 L_ that had taken place between him and the 
 
 duchess dowager of Bourbon, and in the more 
 dangerous negociations in which he had recently 
 been engaged abroad. A friendly contest en- 
 sued between these two gentlemen, as to which 
 should hold the post of the greatest danger in 
 the service of their master, and this being at 
 length yielded to Tausannes, he was left to con- 
 ceal the duke's flighty while Pomperant accom- 
 panied him in it. [a) 
 The par- ^liey immediately departed^ having taken the 
 ticuiars of precautiou of shoeing' their horses backwards, in 
 
 nis escape. 1 ~ _ ' 
 
 order to baffle pursuit, and Bourbon having put 
 on the garb of a servant. When they were 
 so far onwards as was thought necessary for 
 the purpose, Tausannes, who had lain down 
 in the duke's bed, arose, and drest himself in 
 his clotheSj called his followers to horse be- 
 fore it was light, and rode out from Her- 
 nient on Bourbon's hackney. When the day 
 began to dawn, and he saw that he could not 
 keep up the deception much longer, he halted, 
 and addressing his companions, told them of the 
 constable's flight, and the necessity he had been 
 under of keeping it secret, to avoid the spies 
 who incessantlv surrounded him. He then dis- 
 missed them on the part of the constable, and, 
 expressing a hope which he hardly felt, that 
 they should soon meet again under happier cir- 
 cumstances, he bade them farewell. He rode 
 
 {«) Gaillard, 1. ii. c, 6, 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 425 
 
 away alone, and thus travelled by cross roads chap. 
 
 . .VIII 
 
 to the castle of Puiguillon^ in the Bourbouiiois^ L 
 
 where he remained hidden for a fortnight ; and 
 having cut off his hair and beard^ which he had 
 been in the habit of wearing very long^ he 
 passed in the disguise of a priest, into Franche 
 Comte^ where he joined his fugitive master. 
 
 Bourbon^ in the disguise of Pomperant's ser- 
 vant, pursued his course towards the frontier. 
 On the first nighty he lodged in the chateau 
 of the seigneur de Lalieres, an old adherent of 
 the house of Bourbon, and whose nephew was 
 of his party. He then changed his route, and^ 
 on the following day, slept at Pomperant^s 
 house at Auvergne. Leaving Lyons on the 
 left, he proceeded with his companion to Saint 
 Bouvet le Froid, where hunger constraining 
 them to stop, they selected an isolated and un- 
 frequented inn^ in which there appeared to be 
 nobody but an old woman^ and where they 
 thought it was certain they should not be 
 known. They were alarmed;, however, by the 
 arrival, late in the evenings, of the post-master 
 of Tournon, and immediately departed for Vau- 
 quelles, about two leagues further, where they 
 stopped at an inn, the hostess of which knew 
 Pomperant. She lent him a mare^, his own 
 horse being knocked up, and sent her son with 
 the fugitives as a guide. At midnight they set off 
 from VauquelleS;, and before day-break reached 
 Dauce^, on the bank of the Rhone, near Vienne. 
 Bourbon here concealed himself behind a house. 
 
426 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 VI n. 
 
 while Pomperant went to enquire whether, as 
 they feared^ the passage of the river was stop- 
 ped. He met a butcher near the bridge of 
 Vienne^ to whom he said he A^as an archer of 
 the king's guards and asked him if his comrades 
 had not arrived at Vienne to guard the passage 
 of the river and prevent the constable's escape. 
 The butcher replied,, that no sokliers had come 
 to Vienne, but that he had heard there was a 
 large troop of horse on the Dauphiny side. 
 Pomperant returned with this news to Bourbon, 
 and it was agreed that^ although the bridge was 
 unguarded, there might be some danger of their 
 being recognised in passing it ; and therefore 
 they w^ent half a league lower down the river, 
 where there was a ferry. Just after they entered 
 the boatj ten or a dozen foot-soldiers embarked 
 with them, to Bourbon's consternation, which 
 was increased when, about the middle of the pas- 
 sage^ some of them recognised and saluted 
 Pomperant. lie saw the constable's alarm, and 
 whispered to him to be tranquil^ adding, that 
 if any foul play was offered^ he would cut the 
 towing-rope, when the boat must drift back to- 
 wards Vivarez, where they could gain the moun- 
 tains, and soon be out of danger. It turned out, 
 however J that Bourbon's fears were groundless. 
 Having thus passed the river^ they rode on for a 
 short time in the direction of Grenoble, until 
 they had lost sight of their late companions, 
 when they turned through the forests towards 
 Saint Antoine de Viennois, and took up their 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 
 
 quarters at Nanty, in the house of an old widow 
 lady. During supper she began to talk about 
 the constable's flight, the news of which had, 
 by this time, filled the country, and asked Pom- 
 perantj whom she knew, if he was one of the 
 madmen who had been engaged in monsieur 
 de Bourbon's schemes. Pomperant replied he 
 would willingly have given all that he pos- 
 sessed in the world to be with him, wherever 
 he was ; and this equivocal reply effectually di- 
 verted all suspicion from his supposed servant ; 
 but while they were talking, some one brought 
 in the intelligence that the provost was within 
 half a league of the place, with a powerful es- 
 cort, making an earnest search for the fugitive. 
 Bourbon, at this news, could not restram his emo- 
 tion ; he turned pale, and would have risen from 
 the table with the intention of seeking his safety in 
 immediate flight. Pomperant^ who had watched 
 his motions seized him by the arm and held 
 him down on his seat, unperceived by the rest of 
 the company, continuing his conversation witli 
 such apparent coolness as to hide his own and 
 his companion's confusion ; but the moment 
 the supper was over they withdrew silently^ and 
 mounting their hoi'ses, rode by cross ways to a 
 place in the mountains, six leagues beyond^ 
 where, as they were entirely out of the reach 
 of pursuit, and in an unfrequented district^ 
 they remained for a whole day, to give their 
 jaded horses the repose of which they stood in 
 great need. They then proceeded to the bridge 
 
 427 
 
 CHAP. 
 VHT. 
 
428 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, of Beauvoisin, intending to reach Chambery, 
 ' and found so many soldiers on their route to 
 
 Italy, tliat every step they made was full of peril. 
 They got to Chambery late at night, and had 
 determined to go thence, through Savoy, to 
 Savona or Genoa, from one of which places 
 Bourbon proposed to sail for Spain ; but learn- 
 ing that the count de St. Pol had just passed on 
 the same road, he changed his destination, re- 
 crossed the Rhone to St. Claude, and having 
 procured from the cardinal la Tour de May an 
 escort of horse, he rode to Passerau.(fl5) 
 
 Having here rested about a week, and being 
 recovered from the exhaustion of a journey so 
 rapid and so harassing, he began to consider 
 the measures necessary for carrying his plans 
 into effect, and with this view he dispatched le 
 Roeux to the king of England, requiring his as- 
 sistance in a supply of money and artillery, with 
 which he proposed to march on Lyons and Paris, 
 which simultaneous attack he said he hoped to 
 make a profitable voyage to the king, [b) 
 
 Waiting Henry's reply and the succours 
 which he expected from the emperor, he went 
 to Lierre en Ferrette where he found several of 
 the gentlemen who had pledged themselves to 
 follow his fortunes. Many of them were 
 in great distress from having been compelled, 
 in consequence of Bourbon's flight, to a much 
 more sudden departure than they had intended. 
 
 (a) Mem. de Bellay, 1. ii. 
 
 {h) MSS. Cott. Vitell. b. c. p. 199. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 429 
 
 He was in no situation to help them; but, with chap. 
 
 that profuse generosity for whicli he was re- L_ 
 
 markable, he distributed among them all that 
 he possessed. 
 
 As soon as the fliii:lit of Bourbon was ascer- Proceed- 
 
 c> ^ ^ mgsagainst 
 
 tained, the kiiiiir determined to suspend his in- the con- 
 
 1 f -^ sill rn tors 
 
 tended march to Italy. He confiscated the whole 
 of the constable's property, and commenced a 
 prosecution against such of his adherents as were 
 within his reach. The count de St. Vallier ; 
 Aimard de Prie ; Fran9ois Descars, seigneur de 
 la Van guy on ; Pierre de Popillon, the chancel- 
 lor of the Bourbonnois ; the seigneur de St. Bon- 
 net, Gilbert Baudemanche ; Bertrand Brion; the 
 bishops of Puy and of Autun ; were arrested 
 and brought to trial before commissioners spe- 
 cially delegated for that purpose. In conse- 
 quence of the disclosures made by these pri- 
 soners in the course of their examinations, many 
 other persons, as well natives as foreigners^ were 
 also arrested, and subsequently the whole matter 
 was referred to the parliament of Paris, before 
 which tribunal it was finally disposed of. 
 
 The depositions of Matignon and d'Argouges, 
 which were the foundation of the enquiry^ con- 
 tained at the best very vague indications of the 
 nature of the design which the constable had 
 formed. Although there can be no doubt that 
 it was in conseciuence of the unjust treatment 
 he had experienced through the means of the 
 duchess d'Angouleme, that Bourbon first en- 
 tered upon his most perilous enterprise, it 
 
430 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, appears that he did not urge that to the per- 
 
 ^ sons whose aid he solicited as a ground for 
 
 the revolt to which he endeavoured to persuade 
 them. Matignoiij being asked whether Lurcy, 
 the constable^s agents, had represented the pro- 
 posed revolt as being in consequence of his 
 discontent at the decision respecting the Bour- 
 bon property, replied^ that Lurcy assured him, 
 on the contrary^ that it had nothing what- 
 ever to do with it. It w^as upon much more 
 plausible pretexts, that Bourbon endeavoured to 
 gain the co-operation of the Norman gentlemen. 
 The indolence and dissipated habits of the king, 
 the pernicious and degrading consequences 
 which resulted from the female influence then 
 paramount at the court, furnished him with 
 more popular and more cogent reasons for per- 
 suading them to a project in which their own 
 and the nation's interests were supposed to be 
 concerned, than any considerations which applied 
 only to himself individually. The very gist of 
 the conspiracy was against the king personally, (a) 
 
 (a) Brion, who had been sent by the king to communicate 
 to the parliament of Paris the conspiracy which had been 
 discovered, took advantage of the occasion to inflame the 
 fears and resentment of the Parisians by adding circum- 
 stances of ridiculous exaggeration to the facts, which the 
 confession of the Norman gentlemen had disclosed. He told 
 them, that the object of the plot was to deliver up Francis 
 to the king of England, to destroy his children, (his ^^ords 
 were, " qu'on devoit faire des pat^s de tons les enfans de 
 France") ; to shut the duchess d'Angoiileme up in a place 
 which she could not quit when she wished it ; and that in 
 short every branch of the reigning family was to be exter- 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 431 
 
 and his niiso'oveniment ^vas the topic on which chap. 
 
 • . VIII 
 
 Lurcy most strenuously insisted. ! 
 
 Notvvithstandino^ the serious nature of this 
 conspiracy,, the punishments a^varded to the per- 
 sons Avho were proved to have been engaged in 
 itj were extremely lights and even of these, few 
 were carried into execution in all their rigour, {a) 
 Of the two bishops who had been arrested, 
 one, the bishop of Puy, was set at liberty ; the 
 othei% the bishop of Autun^ who seems to have 
 had as o^reat a share in the rebellion as anv of 
 the accomplices, was kept in prison for some 
 time^ but was afterwards li])erated, and ultimately 
 restored to all his possessions. (6) Gilbert de 
 
 minated. — Discours de Brion au Parlement, Gaillard, 1. ii: 
 c. 0. The explanation of this otherwise useless falsehood 
 is to be found in the fact that the English army was then 
 in France, and threatened the capital. 
 
 [a] Francis either felt or feigned great discontent at the 
 clemency of his judges. He said that the conspirators had 
 expected nothing less than death for their offences, and he 
 could not conceive why those who had tried them thought it 
 right to sentence them to any milder punishment. He no- 
 minated new judges, and when they were found to be no 
 more rigorous than their predecessors, he addressed to them 
 an angry letter dated from Romorentin, the 18th of July, 
 1524, in which he said, '* Je vois que vous etes delibere 
 de persister dans votre erreur, et pref^rer vos volontes par- 
 ticulieres a notre honnete service, et au bien de tout le ro- 
 yaume :" — and he adds, " nous en ferons une telle demonstra- 
 tion, que ce sera exemple aux autres." A threat which 
 was probably never meant to be, and which certainly never 
 was carried into execution. — Gaillard, 1. ii. c. 6. 
 
 [b) On his liberation he joined Bourbon, who made him 
 chancellor of Milan, on Morone's being displaced. After 
 Bourbon's death he returned to France, and was fully par- 
 
^ 
 
 432 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. Bamleniaiiche (a) was acquitted and liberated 
 ^"^' after a short confinement^ and St. Bonnet ob- 
 tained a formal pardon. Desguieres and Ber- 
 trand Simon were condemned to make an amende 
 honorable^ and to three years imprisonment in 
 whatever place the king might direct. Descars 
 was about to be put to the torture^ but by his 
 passionate supplications to the judges that he 
 might rather at once suffer death, he is said to 
 have obtained such a delay as enabled his 
 friends to procuie a more favourable view to be 
 taken of his alleged offence. His wife, who was 
 of the house of Bourbon Carenci, obtained 
 permission to attend him in prison, during an 
 illness which his agitation had brought on ; 
 and ^^hen he recovered^ he received a sen- 
 tence of banishment to Orleans for the space 
 of two years, and was ultimately fuUy^ par- 
 doned. (Jj) 
 
 . doned. The bishop of Puy owed his protection to the con- 
 stant quarrels which it was proved he was engaged in with 
 the bishop of Autun. They both formed a part of the con- 
 stable's household, and entertained a boundless hatred and 
 jealousy of each other, which frequently broke out into such 
 indecent explosions, that the constable was personally obliged 
 to interpose between them. — Examination of the bishop of 
 Puy, 21 Octr. 1523. 
 
 [a] He admitted that he had hired troops in the name of 
 the constable, but declared that he believed they were for 
 the king's service. — Examination, 24 Septr. 1523. 
 
 [h] Descars' imprisonment was much more unfortunate in 
 its results to others than to himself. He endeavoured at an 
 early period of his confinement to effect his escape, and had 
 so far succeeded as to reach the river, which he was cross- 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 433 
 
 St. Vallier^ who Iiad taken little or no share in chap. 
 
 the rebellion^ and who had expiated his fault by L 
 
 an ample confession, endured a much more ri- se\"iTencr^ 
 porous treatment. He was found i^uilty of lese- ^"3^^";^ 
 majeste, and condemned to be degraded from 
 his rank, and after having been put to the torture, 
 to lose his head. The latter part of the sentence 
 was not carried into effect, although the chan- 
 cellor du Prat vehemently recommended it. St. 
 Vallier protested against the cruelty and injus- 
 tice of his sentence^ but prepared to undergo it 
 courageously. The only part of it which seem- 
 ed too severe a trial for his fortitude, was that 
 relating to his degradation. The count de 
 Ligny approached him on the scatfold for the 
 purpose of divesting him of the order of St. 
 Michael which he bore. St. Vallier, with the 
 instruments of his death before him, replied 
 with dignity, that the order had been conferred 
 on him by an assembled chapter of the knights 
 of St. Michaeb and he urged^ therefore, his 
 right to retain it until he was deprived of it by 
 their authority. De Ligny, however, insisted, 
 and St. Vallier having no collar, the count lent 
 
 ing when he was retaken. One of his servants who had 
 assisted him was killed in the pursuit, and when Descars 
 was ultimately liberated, the parliament exhorted him to 
 have the services of the church performed for the repose of 
 this servant's soul, and to provide for his wife and children. 
 Another of his servants, for having been concerned in the 
 same affair, was condemned to be whipped and banished 
 from Paris, and the keeper of the prison was displaced and 
 fined for his negligence. — Gaillard, t. ii. c. 6. 
 VOL. I. F F 
 
434 
 
 CHAP. 
 VIII. 
 
 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 Ilim his own, which he put on and took off. 
 He then requested permission to make some 
 bequests to his servants^ with the king's good 
 pleasure, and this was granted him. Having 
 now finished all his preparations, he declared 
 himself ready to undergo his fate, when a mes- 
 senger arrived,, with news that the king had 
 commuted his sentence to one of perpetual im- 
 prisonment, (^a) 
 
 (a) It has been said, that St. Vallier was indebted for the 
 pardon to the intercession of his beautiful daughter, better 
 known by the name of Diane de Poictiers, who afterwards 
 became the mistress of Francis's son, Henry II. The whole 
 story is extremely questionable ; and that part of it which re- 
 lates to Diana's having purchased her father's life by the sur- 
 render of her own maiden honour is obviously untrue ; for 
 she had, at this time, been for ten years the wife of the grand 
 seneschal of Normandy. Considering that it was by means 
 of that officer the conspiracy was in some degree discovered, 
 and that the machinations of Lurcy were rendered futile by 
 the prompt measures which he took to prevent the conse- 
 quences of the projected revolt in the province of which he 
 was the governor, it is not difficult to imagine more honour- 
 able as well as more reasonable motives for the clemency 
 which St. Vallier experienced. The terms of the patent by 
 which his sentence was remitted, state explicitly that it had 
 been granted at the entreaty of the seneschal, and in conse- 
 quence of his services. " Comrae puis naguere notre cher 
 et feal cousin, conseiller, et chambellan, le comte de Maule- 
 vrier-Brez6, grand s^nechal de Normandie, et les parens et 
 amis charnels de Jean de Poictiers, sieur de S. Vallier, nous 
 ayent en tres grande humility, supplie et requis avoir piti6 et 
 compassion dudit de Poictiers, sieur de S, Vallier ; Nous 
 ayant consideration aux dits services, et principaleraent a 
 celui que ledit grand s^n^chal nous a fait en d^couvrant les 
 machinations et conspirations, &c." 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 435 
 
 While his adherents were thus suffering the <^"^^p- 
 
 , VIIL 
 
 consequences of his rashness^ Bourbon himself 
 
 felt in his own person all the bitter consequences 
 
 of his revoh. He was a wanderer in a foreign ^ . ^ 
 
 O jbrancis of- 
 
 countrv, with scanty means, and with no otlier [^^^ ^*'"''- 
 " •' ' Don a par- 
 
 attendants or companions than the fug-itives who don, which 
 
 *■ , «-' ^ ^ he refuses. 
 
 thought themselves sufficiently happy in having 
 escaped the fate that menaced their stay in 
 France. The king, who knew the value of the 
 adherent he had lost, sent Imbaut^ a gentleman 
 of his household, to offer him a pardon and the 
 restitution of his goods, on his return to his 
 country and his allegiance. Bourbon's reply 
 was decisive and unceremonious in the nega- 
 tive. Imbaut, this part of his commission being 
 ended, demanded, in the name of the king, the 
 sword of France^ which he bore in token of 
 his office of constable; and the collar of St. 
 Michael, which the king had conferred on him. 
 '' As to the sword, '^ replied Bourbon^ Avhose 
 pride had not recovered the wound it had re- 
 ceived at Valenciennes^ " he took that from me 
 at the passage of the Scheldt, when he gave the 
 command of the vaimuard to the duke d'Alen- 
 9011 ; as for the order, I left it hanging at the 
 head of my bed at Chantelle.^^ (a) 
 
 The process against him^ which had been 
 suspended, was now renewed. He was declared 
 guilty of lese-majeste, degraded from his offices 
 and dignities, his possessions declared to have 
 escheated to the king, and the shield on which 
 
 (a) Brantome, Hornmes lllustres. Bourbon. 
 
 F F 2 
 
436 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. Yiis arms were blazoned in the front of the hotel 
 
 VTll. 
 
 du Petit Bourbon, smeared over with yellow as 
 
 a token of indignity, [a] These proceedings 
 were not finally terminated until the 26th of 
 July^ 1527, when the ill-fated subject of them, 
 although he had expiated his errors by his 
 death,, had not satisfied the malice of his ene- 
 mies. His memory was assailed^ and by the 
 terms of the posthumous sentence he was de- 
 clared to have notoriously deg'enerated from 
 the virtue and loyalty of the ancestors of his 
 house. (6) 
 
 From Pranche Comte, Bourbon went into 
 Germany, and, returning by way of Switzerland, 
 
 Assumes lic rcachcd Mantua^ where the duke, his cousin^ 
 
 the com - |. • -i r» j j • t • ii 
 
 mandofthe gavc hiiB au cquipagc befitting his rank ; he 
 army m " thcii repaired to Piacenza to confer with the im- 
 ^*^*^* perial generals the plan of the campaign^ and to 
 await the emperor's orders. Charles however 
 entertained towards Bourbon, who had now no- 
 thing to offer him but his sword and his despair, 
 very different feelings from those which he had 
 expressed for him when he believed that he could 
 raise half France against the monarch whom 
 he looked upon as his most powerful and most 
 dangerous rival. He suffered some time to elapse 
 before he answered the applications that were 
 made to him upon Bourbon's part by Lurcy, 
 and at length sent the messenger back, accom- 
 panied by Beaurein, with an oflfer to him^ either 
 to repair to Spain^ or to assume, as lieutenant- 
 
 (a) Mezeray. [h] Sleidan, 1. vi. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 437 
 
 general^ the command of the imperial army in chap. 
 
 Italy. Bourbon perceived that the emperor was . 
 
 in no haste to perform the brilliant promises he 
 had formerly made him ; not a ^vord was said 
 about his proposed marriage with the queen of 
 Portugal. He determined to await a more 
 favourable occasion for pressing his claims^ and 
 for the present he accepted the latter of the em- 
 peror's ofFerSj and was content to carry on with 
 the other generals the Italian campaign. 
 
 The discovery of Bourbon's design at the ^varonthe 
 moment that it took place, althouo'h it did not J^ench 
 
 ^ i ' ~ frontiers. 
 
 divert the attacks which were threatened against 
 Prance, rendered them ineffectual. If those at- 
 tacks had been made simultaneously, and if an in- 
 ternal revolt, directed by the genius, and strength- 
 ened by the influence of Bourbon^ had broken 
 out at the same time, the destruction of Fran- 
 cis, and the dismemberment of his realm must, 
 in all human probability, have been the conse- 
 quence ; but to encounter the separate assaults of 
 Spain, Germany^ and England, the arrangements 
 which Francis had made for the defence of his 
 realm were found quite sufficient. The Germans 
 penetrated the French frontier at Franche Comte^ 
 but were repulsed by the count de Guise. Lau- 
 trec^ to whom the defence of the confines next 
 Spain had been committed, made a wise disposi- 
 tion of his force by fortifying and victualling Font- 
 arabia, after which he fell back^ having remov- 
 ed every kind of provision which could facilitate 
 the enemy's march. By the treachery of Fran- 
 
438 
 
 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 GHAP. 
 VIII. 
 
 get, the commandant of Fontarabia, that place 
 was surrendered ; but the Spanish forces were 
 either content with the advantaoe which they had 
 lishand thus gained^ or they did not think it advisable 
 armies ap- to pursuc their good fortune. The English army, 
 ¥aitV under the command of the duke of Suffolk^ and 
 prepared to co-operate with the forces raised in 
 the F.ow Countries, remained at Calais, ready to 
 march for Normandy as soon as intimation of the 
 success of Bourbon's practices in that province 
 should i*ender it advisable. The news which 
 arrived of the detection of Bourbon's plot, and 
 his consequent flight, frustrated this scheme ; 
 ut, as it was deemed expedient to do some- 
 thing, the united armies passed the Somme, and 
 entered France, contrary to the opinion of 
 Henry himself, who, seeing that the autumn was 
 approaching, and that bad weather might be 
 expected, had advised the laying siege to some 
 fortified town nearer to the English pale, where 
 his army would be less liable to loss, and more 
 readily within the reach of supplies. La Tre- 
 moille endeavoured to oppose their progress, 
 but was defeated ; and the invading force march- 
 ed onwards, committing all possible devastation 
 in their route, until they were within eleven 
 leagues of Paris. The inhabitants of that city 
 experienced all the alarm which a position of 
 such peril was well calculated to excite. The king 
 ordered the duke de Vendome to withdraw from 
 guarding Champagne, and to march with the 
 forces collected for the defence of that frontier 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 439 
 
 to the relief of Paris. He at the same time dis- chat. 
 patched his favourite, Brion, to the capital, to ^"^' 
 tranquillize the terrified citizens, and to inform 
 them of the measures he had taken for their de- 
 fence. Brion had the silly vanity to inform the 
 assembled parliament that the king had sent 
 him for their protection, without mentioning the 
 more substantial succours which were ad van cin": 
 with the duke de Vendome. Baillet, the vice- 
 president, replied to him with a solemn irony, 
 which admirably rebuked his presumption. He 
 expressed the grateful sense which the citizens 
 entertained of the king's goodness; but remind- 
 ed him, that when Paris was threatened by 
 the duke of Burgundy, in the reign of Louis XL, 
 that monarch was not content with sending them 
 a single young gentleman of his court, but the 
 most able of his leaders, and as many of his best 
 troops as he could spare. He added, that, not- 
 withstanding their entire confidence that Brion^s 
 prowess alone would suffice to repel the enemy, 
 they could not help feeling an additional satis- 
 faction from the intimation they had received 
 that the duke de Vendome, with a well-appointed 
 army, was on the road to second his efforts. 
 
 The determined spirit of resistance which was Are check- 
 thus manifested to the enemy's further progress, titar^^'^ 
 effectually checked them, and the Germans and 
 Flemings of de Buren's host insisted on retreat- 
 ing. The English commander could not stay 
 unsupported, and, however unwillingly, he with- 
 drew also to Calais, which he reached in Decem- 
 
440 THE LIFE AND TIMES, &C. 
 
 CHAP. 
 VJII. 
 
 ber, with an army considerably diminished by 
 sickness^ fatigue^ and excesses. When Henry 
 heard the result of the expedition^ his anger 
 was so highly raised, that he forbade the duke 
 of Suffolk and his officers from entering his 
 presence; and it required all the address of 
 Wolsey^ and a considerable space of time, to 
 induce him to forgive them for a defeat, which 
 they would not have encountered if his advice 
 had been followed. 
 
CHAP. IX. 
 
 The command of the Italian Army is r/iven to Bon- 
 nivet — His Campaign — Blockades Milan — Bayard 
 relieves Cremona — Colonna^s defence — Bonnivet 
 goes into icinter quarters — Death of Colonna — and 
 of Adrian VT, — Election of the Cardinal Colonna, 
 under the title of Clement VII, — who endeavours 
 to effect a Peace — The Camisade of Rebec — Bon~ 
 nivet^s retreat — The Death of Bayard — Bourbon 
 invades France — Lays Siege to Marseilles — Raises 
 the Siege, and retreats into Italy — Francis again 
 invades Italy — Takes Milan and invests Pavia — 
 The Pope proposes a Truce, ichich is rejected — 
 D^ Auhigny marches upon Naples — Money conveyed 
 by a stratagem into Pavia — Bourbon, ivith the as- 
 sistance of the partisan Freundsberg, raises an 
 Army in Germany — Marches into Italy — The Ori- 
 sons desert from the King — The Imperialists seek an 
 engagement — ichich Francis rashly determines not 
 to avoid — Mtrabello is attacked — The Battle of 
 Pavia — Francis's Army is defeated — He is made 
 Prisoner — his demeanor after the battle — its con- 
 sequences. 
 
443 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Francis was prevented by the discovery of 
 Bourbon's conspiracy^ from assuming, as he 
 had otherwise intended to do, the command of 
 the Italian expedition. The safety of France^ 
 menaced as it was on all sides, required his pre- 
 sence^ and his ability and talents for protecting 
 as well as governing his kingdom, were never 
 more admirably displayed than in the prompt 
 and vigilant repulse which he provided for his as- 
 sailants. If he had exercised equal discretion in 
 the selection of a commander for his Italian 
 army, the issue of his enterprise would proba- 
 bly have been equally successful ; — at all events 
 the disastrous result which ensued would have 
 been avoided. 
 
 The misjudging partiality of the king, com- ^afj o?" 
 bined with the pernicious influence of the du- amiygWen 
 chess d'Angouleme, induced him to confer on ^^^g^^*^""'" 
 Bonnivet, who was then with the army as a 
 simple volunteer, the rank of generalissimo. 
 Nobody was more astonished at such a choice 
 than the object of it, who, however, upon the 
 receipt of his commission, set about the imme- 
 diate discharge of the difficult task which was 
 thrust upon him, and for which, excepting his 
 presumption and his courage, he had no single 
 
nese 
 
 444 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, requisite. He marclied immediately on Milan^ 
 
 '. — the fortress of ^^ hich was defended by Prospero 
 
 Colonna. 
 The cam- The Confederate army was not yet assembled ; 
 tKiiil- Colonna's force was altogether inadequate to 
 check such an army as that of France, and he 
 was himself sufferini>^ from ill health. Notwith- 
 standing these discouraging circumstances he 
 contrived, by his judicious arrangements, to ha- 
 rass the passage of the enemy^ and to dispute 
 every foot of their march, although be could 
 not prevent it. Compelled at length to retreat 
 before them^ he sent Antonio da Leyva to keep 
 the city of Pavia, while he retired with his own 
 forces to Lodi. («) It has been said, that if Bon- 
 nivet had now marched directly for Milan^ it 
 must have fldlen before him ; but^, besides that 
 such a step would have been inconsistent with 
 the cautious warfare which, instructed by the 
 errors of former campaigns, he had determined 
 to pursue, it may reasonably be doubted whe- 
 ther that enterprise could have succeeded. The 
 citadel was one of great strength^ the garri- 
 son, though not very numerous^ was composed 
 of veteran troops, the warlike genius of Co- 
 lonna watched over its defence, and Morone, the 
 chancellor^ whose fertile brain and hatred of the 
 French made him one of the most useful defen- 
 ders of the placCj furnished the supplies, animated 
 the exertions of the citizens, and provided in- 
 cessant annoyances for the enemy. By the 
 
 (a) Dii Bellay, 1. ii. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 445 
 
 time that Boiinivet reached Milan the walls chap. 
 
 IX 
 
 were repaired^ and tlie place so well victualled 1_ 
 
 that he was compelled to resort to a blockade 
 instead of a siege^ and by turning' the water- 
 courses, and stopping; the passage of the neigh- 
 bouring roads, to try the effect of famine in 
 reducing a fortress which defied his arms. 
 
 The only place which had held out for Fran- J/cremmm 
 cis since Lautrec's expulsion of the French was B^'^^r^ '^^ 
 the castle of Cremona. D'Herbouville, the com- 
 mandant, with forty men, had composed the 
 whole of the garrison, when, eighteen months be- 
 fore, its defence had been committed to them. The 
 chevalier Bayard now undertook the relief of the 
 place, and having entered it, he found eight pri- 
 vate soldiers, the sole survivors of the garrison, 
 who had held out during the greater part of the 
 time against the assaults of their enemies, the 
 pains of famine, and the horrors of mortality ; 
 and who now safely surrendered the castle into 
 the hands of the hero who came to relieve 
 them, (a) Bayard attempted to attack the city 
 of Cremona, but the succours which the duke of 
 Urbino had thrown into it, and still more per- 
 haps the unfavourable weather, compelled him 
 to withdraw. 
 
 The blockade of Milan was continued and Bonnivet 
 Bonnivet having taken Monza, Lodi, and Cre- fv'in'ter "* 
 mona, had effectually cut off the supplies. Fa- 'i"'"'^^''^- 
 mine began to make dreadful ravages in the 
 
 («) Brantome, Honimes lUiistres. 
 
446 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. ^\iy yi^g French had destroyed all the mills 
 ' in the neighbourhood ; but Morone provided 
 against the inconYenience resulting from this, 
 by constructing hand-mills^ by means of which 
 the people were supplied with floui% while he 
 calmed their impatience by representing to them 
 that the French suffered in the camp more than 
 the inhabitants in the city. There was some 
 truth in this ; for the want of forage and the 
 dampness of the encampment, occasioned by the 
 ' diversion of the canals, had made it extremely 
 inconvenient and unwholesome. Colonna was 
 continually harassing them with skirmishes. He 
 attempted to cut off the French army^s supplies 
 by attacking the bridge at Vigevano ; and^ al- 
 ' though he failed, he compelled Bonnivet to eva- 
 
 cuate Monza, by means of which he was enabled 
 abundantly to supply the town and citadel of 
 Milan. Bonnivet^ tired of a warfare which was 
 tedious and unprofitable, proposed to Colonna 
 a trucCj of which he intended to avail himself 
 for effecting his retreat unmolested ; but this 
 being rejected, through the influence of Morone, 
 he determined to withdraw in the face of his 
 enemies, conveyed his artillery safely across 
 the Ticino, and^ having sent a part of his army 
 into winter quarters in Piedmont, Provence, and 
 Languedoc, he lodged the remainder in Bia- 
 grasso and Rosat, where a plentiful supply of 
 provisions might be insured, and where he de- 
 termined to pass the winter, refresh his troops, 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 447 
 
 and wait the reinforcement which had been pro- chap. 
 
 IX 
 
 mised him from France. '. — 
 
 Prospero Colonna, who had attained his eigh- 
 tieth year, and had passed the greater part of his 
 lono^ Ufe in active warfare, died on the 30th of ^^-^P- 
 
 . ... . Death of 
 
 December, at Milan. His military genius, his coionna, 
 extraordinary vigilance, and the Fabian system 
 of defence which he had invariably employed, 
 had proved an effectual check to the enterprises 
 of France in Italy, {a) 
 
 Durino' the blockade of Milan, news had been 
 received of the death of Adrian VI., and, while Adrian vi. 
 the two armies were enoag^ed in a bootless and 
 almost bloodless contest in the Milanese, the in- 
 trigues which commonly attended the election 
 of a Pope had been carried on in the Vatican 
 with no less earnestness and profligacy than 
 usual. Wolsey's hopes were once more excited. 
 The English ambassadors at Rome were in- 
 structed, in the king's name, to spare no pains 
 for accomplishing his object ; and he requested 
 Charles to write to the Spanish ministers in his 
 behalf, (h) The fraudulent emperor complied ; The eiec- 
 but at the same time secretly exerted himself to pope! ^ 
 thwart the pretensions which he affected to sup- 
 port. Wolsey's name was mentioned in the con- 
 clave, but was instantly rejected. The real com- 
 petitors were the cardinals de' Medici and Co- 
 lonna ; and after fifty days spent in violence 
 and intrigues, the election of the former was 
 secured by means of a compromise with his 
 
 (a) Brantome. [h] MSS. Cotton. Vitell. C. ii. 
 
448 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, rival, to whom he surrendered the office of vice 
 ^^' chancellor, and a magnificent palace which had 
 been given him by Leo X. {a) 
 
 The new Pope assumed the name of Clement 
 
 1524. A 
 
 Clement VII. Thc fii'st acts of liis govemment were 
 ed. prudent and popular. He pardoned the car- 
 
 dinal Soderini, and the other persons who were 
 engaged in the Sicilian conspiracy^ and ex- 
 pressed a wish, in which he was probably sin- 
 cere, to eifect a pacification between Francis 
 and the emperor. In the mean time, however, 
 he secretly favoured the league for the expul- 
 sion of the French^ whose invasion of Italy he 
 considered unjust and dangerous to the repose 
 of the country. 
 
 Bonnivet remained in his winter quarters at 
 Biagrasso^ dreaming over the successes w hich he 
 imagined he would be able to effect^ either by 
 the arrival of succours from France, or by the 
 dispersion of the confederate force for want of 
 money to carry on the war. On both points his 
 hopes were completely frustrated. Francis, the 
 immediate danger which threatened his king- 
 dom being staved off, had plunged with mad 
 eagerness into a career of dissipation which ex- 
 hausted his finances^ diverted him from the con- 
 templation of the true aspect of his affairs, and 
 prevented him from resorting to such measures 
 as their exigencies required. The confederate 
 army^ instead of being dispersed^ was reinforced 
 by the accession of Bourbon, who assumed the 
 
 [a) Sleidan, Comment., I. iv, Guicciardini, 1. Ixiv. 
 
of 
 
 OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 449 
 
 supreme command, and of whose presence Bon- <^'^''^p- 
 
 nivet soon became conscious by the increased 1^ 
 
 activity of the enemy's operations. 
 
 The admiral, havin": learnt that some supplies ih^pa- 
 were on their way to Milan, sent the chevaher ^^bec. 
 Bayard with two hundred men at arms, and a 
 small body of infantry, to intercept them at the 
 small village Rebec, through which they must 
 pass. Bayard represented, that to engage in an 
 enterprise at such a distance from head quarters, 
 and with so small a force, would be to provoke a 
 certain attack frona the enemy. Bonnivet insist- 
 ed ; and Bayard, who knew that his duty required 
 obedience, reluctantly complied. He reached 
 Rebec, where he took up his cpiarters for the 
 night. The event justified his apprehension ; 
 the marquis of Pescara attacked the place about 
 two hours before daybreak, with a force double 
 that of Bayard, (a) Upon the first alarm, the 
 chevalier, who had gone to bed very ill, arose ; 
 and having given orders to his lieutenant to 
 withdraw the foot as fast as he could to Bia- 
 grasso, he mounted his horse, and, with a de- 
 tachment of the gendarmes, he made head 
 against the enemy, and covered the retreat of the 
 rest of his force. Bonnivet, as soon as the news 
 reached him, hastened to his assistance; and, 
 upon his arrival, Pescara retreated. Bayard had 
 
 (a) This attack was called the Camisade of Rebec, ber 
 cause Pescara, in order to enable his soldiers to distino^uish 
 each other in the dark, had made them put their shirts over 
 their armour. — Du Bellay, 1. ii. 
 
 VOL. I. G G 
 
450 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, saved all his men, but had been compelled to 
 
 . '. destroy his baggage ; an event which, while the 
 
 masterly defence he had made under circum- 
 stances so disadvantageous, added to his repu- 
 tation in the esteem of all the worlds was felt 
 by him to be so great a disgrace that he told 
 Bonnivet he would compel him to give him 
 satisfaction for it when the king's service should 
 leave them at leisure, (a) 
 
 While Bonnivet was vainly expecting rein- 
 forcements from France, the imperial army was 
 further strengthened by a force of six thousand 
 Germans, levied at the expense of the state of 
 Venice. Bourbon now began to act on the 
 offensive^ and Bonnivet, who saw that even a 
 defeat could not be more injurious to him than 
 the inactive but harassing warfare which he 
 was compelled to carry on, offered to come to a 
 general engagement. Bourbon was not, how- 
 ever^ to be so provoked ; and Bonnivet was 
 compelled to defend himself as well as he might. 
 At length he received intelligence that a body 
 of six thousand Swiss were marching to his 
 assistance by Sessia, while a similar reinforce- 
 ment was coming in the direction of Bergamo. 
 He fell back to Novara to facilitate their junc- 
 tion, Bourbon immediately moved his main 
 body between Sessia and Novara to oppose the 
 passage of the first, while Giovanni de' Medici 
 crossed the Ticino to intercept the latter. These 
 movements entirely succeeded, and the French 
 
 (a) Du Bellay, 1. ii. Belcar., 1. xviii. M^m. de Bayard. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 451 
 
 general found himself at once disappointed of chap. 
 his succours, and sluit up between two divi- ^^' 
 sions of the imperial army. Biagrasso, the 
 only strong place in the power of the French, 
 was besieged and taken by Sforza; the plague Bonmvet 
 broke out in the town, and extended to the 
 French army ; the Swiss refused even to attempt 
 the passage of the Sessia, his army w^as thinned 
 by daily desertions, and the French general re- 
 solved at once to retire into France. The retreat 
 l)egan at daybreak. Bonnivet, with his gen- 
 darmes^ placed himself in tlie rear to receive the 
 attack of the enemy^ who had watched all his 
 movements. He fought there with great valour 
 and ability until his arm was broken by a mus- 
 ket-ball. He sent immediately for Bayard and 
 Vandenesse, told them he placed in their hands 
 the fate of the army, and besought them to save 
 it_, if it were possible. Bayard replied, *' he 
 feared it was too late,^' but adding^ " I com- • 
 mend my soul to God — my life is my coun- 
 try's,^^ he placed himself at the head of the men 
 at arms^ while Vandenesse took the command of 
 the artillery. Vandenesse was killed almost im- 
 mediately afterwards by a shot from a harque- 
 buss. Bayard, after keeping the enemy in Bayard's 
 
 dentil 
 
 check for some time, received a shot through the 
 back, and, with a too fatal certainty, cried out, 
 *^' JesuSj mon t)ieu ! je suis mort !'' He was 
 lifted from his horse, and bade his followers place 
 him on the ground^ with his back against a tree, 
 and his face towards the enemy. The last ac- 
 
 G g2 
 
452 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. tJQjjg Qf }| jg i^fg ^ygj.^ consonant with the couraoe 
 
 IX. 
 
 and simplicity he had always displayed. As 
 
 no priest was at hand he confessed himself to 
 one of his servants, and, for want of c crucifix, 
 he made use of the cross of his sword, address- 
 ing from time to time some affectionate con- 
 solations to the few followers who remained with 
 him. While he was thus employed, Bourbon 
 came up, and expressed his regret at seeing so 
 valuable a life sacrificed to the safety of Bonni- 
 vet^ whom he detested, and whom in his anger 
 he called " coward ** — an epithet which could 
 never have been justly applied to him. Bayard, 
 whose stern virtue death could not move, replied, 
 " Spare your pity, sir, for yourself; I have no 
 need of it ; I die as a good soldier should, in 
 the performance of his duty, and in the face of 
 his enemies. If there were time for pity I could 
 bestow it from my very heart, on the man who 
 gains an unenviable triumph over his country- 
 men and his country's arms — a triumph which 
 must be as short, and must end as fatally as it 
 is disgraceful.*' Bourbon turned away, cut to 
 the heart by this rebuke, and, in a few hours 
 afterwards, he, who had been the most perfect 
 model of chivalrous virtue, and honour, and 
 manliness, had ceased to exist, (a) 
 
 The task of paying the last honours to his 
 remains was mournfully performed by his ene- 
 mies, whom his virtue and valour had filled 
 
 (a) Belcar., 1. xviii. Du Bellay, 1. ij. Mim. de Bayard. 
 Brantome, Homines lUust. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 
 
 with admiration and respect, and who regretted 
 a victory they had purchased with a life so va- - 
 hiable. (a) 
 
 With the exception of the irreparable loss of 
 Bayard and Vandenesse, the retreat was effected 
 at but little sacrifice. Bonnivet marched his 
 troops back again into France ; — but the Mi- 
 lanese was more completely lost than it had ever 
 been before. 
 
 The success which attended Bourbon's first 
 efforts against the arms of his native country, 
 opened to him prospects which his revenge and 
 his ambition rendered equally flattering^ and in 
 which the emperor was not less eager than him- 
 self to join. Bourbon believed that if he could 
 effect an entrance into Prance^ the nobility and 
 gentry of the provinces in which his estates lay_, 
 would gladly join him ; and that^ with their as- 
 sistance, he should be enabled to take a bitter 
 vengeance on his persecutors, and re-establish 
 himself in sovereign sway. The negociations 
 with England were renewed, and although Wol- 
 sey had a rankling distrust of the emperor, to 
 the want of whose cordial assistance he ascribed 
 his failure in his recent competition for the pa- 
 
 {«) The marquis Pescara, who, upon most occdsions, 
 evinced an immovable apathy, was sensibly affected at 
 Bayard's fate. He had a tent erected over the place at 
 which he was found, sent for surgeons, and remained by 
 his side as long as his life endured, which was about four 
 hours after he received his wound. He then had his body 
 embalmed, and sent it, accompanied by a large escort, to the 
 house of his ancestors. — Varillas, t. i. 
 
 453 
 
 CHAP. 
 IX. 
 
454 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, pacy, he affected to concur in the plan of a si- 
 ^'' multaneous attack on France, and promised a 
 supply of money for the payment of the duke's 
 ->/orce, and some ships to convey provisions 
 from the coast. He stipulated^ however, that 
 the duke should have made such a progress in 
 his invasion as should give some chance of suc- 
 cess^ before the English armament should begin 
 its operations ; and in the belief, from the re- 
 luctance which Bourbon had hitherto evinced 
 on this subject, that he would refuse, Wolsey in- 
 sisted that he should take the oaths of homage 
 and allegiance to Henry, as king of France. 
 
 Bourbon Somc of the writers on this period of French 
 
 SWCHTS 
 
 fealty to histoi'y^ mlslcd^ as it should seem^ as well by 
 ^'''^' their unwilhngness to believe that Bourbon 
 went thus far in his rebellion^ as by the obscu- 
 rity in which the fact has been involved, have 
 unequivocally denied that he ever performed 
 this iniquitous condition; but the evidence re- 
 lating to it is too clear to be doubted. It ap- 
 pears, from the letters between Wolsey and Dr, 
 Pace, then the English minister at the emperor's 
 courts and who had orders to accompany Bour- 
 bon in his expedition, that this condition was 
 repeatedly and urgently pressed upon Bourbon 
 as one to be fulfilled before ^' one penny" of the 
 promised supply from England should be ad- 
 vanced ; it is proved, also, that he was very de- 
 sirous to evade it, and that he suggested many 
 reasons for postponing it ; but it is no less 
 clearly proved that the pertinacity of the Eng- 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 455 
 
 lisli envoy triumphed, and that he conveyed to chap. 
 
 Wolsey the intelhgence of his having" taken from '. — 
 
 the duke the oath of fealty (that of homage he 
 still withheld) in the presence of the viceroy of 
 Naples and the seigneur de Beaurein. (a) 
 
 Of the integrity of Wolsey's intentions in this 
 treaty there may be much question. He was in 
 constant and cordial communication with the 
 Pope^ who had taken alarm at the emperor's 
 encroaching designs, and fearing that, if he 
 succeeded all Italy must be his, had refused to 
 sanction Henry's and the emperor's joint scheme 
 for partitioning France between them ; and he 
 was suspected to be carrying on secret negocia- 
 tions with the mother of the king of France. 
 Certain it is, that the cardinal's honesty was 
 now much suspected in the foreign courts. 
 
 The Italian states who had adhered to the Attacks 
 league while the French army remained in Italy, Aug. ly. ' 
 were not disposed to continue it now that their 
 main object was accomplished. The Venetians 
 expressed their determination of withdrawing 
 from any further operations, and Sienna and 
 Lucca followed their example, and joined with 
 them in a representation to the emperor that 
 the mediation of the Pope ought to be employ- 
 ed to bring about a general peace. Charles, 
 however, was not to be deterred from his design, 
 and Bourbon received his authority to com- 
 mence an attack on France. The emperor, 
 
 (a) Turner's Heury Vill., c. xii. Vitell. B. vi. p. 102. 
 Appendix, No. VII. 
 
456 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 IX. 
 
 CHAP, ^itli that jealous suspicion which always distin- 
 guished him, would not, however, permit Bour- 
 bon to execute his own plan of penetrating as far 
 as he could into France by w ay of Provence, but 
 insisted that he should commence his expedition 
 by an attack upon Marseilles. With that feeling 
 of lofty confidence in the success of his plans, 
 which was one of his characteristics, Bourbon 
 expressed himself certain of taking this impor- 
 tant place. " Three shots/^ he said, " will 
 bring the terrified burghers to our feet, with the 
 keys of the fortress in their hands, and ropes 
 about their necks." If he had been faithfully 
 seconded — even if he had not been most trea- 
 cherously thwarted in the execution of his de- 
 sign — he would have fulfilled a promise, the 
 failure of which made it nothing but a disgrace- 
 ful vaunt. The emperor had associated with 
 him, in the command of the army destined for 
 this expedition, the marquis de Pescara, a man 
 of undoubted bravery and talent, but whose 
 natural insolence of temper was increased by his 
 considering Bourbon in the light of a rival, 
 whose excellence he could not refuse to acknow- 
 ledge, but whose eminence he envied. Lannoy, 
 the viceroy of Naples, upon whose co-operation 
 and prompt supply of a body of cavalry the 
 success of Bourbon's movements mainly de- 
 pended, had adopted similar views respecting 
 him ; and the united enmity of these two leaders 
 prevented his progress, and excited a spirit of 
 disaflfection to the general throughout the army, 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 
 
 457 
 
 which was wholly subversive' of his scheme, chap. 
 By the beginning of July he had entered I^ro- — - — 
 vence ; but he was compelled, during sixteen 
 days of the most valuable time of the year, to 
 await the arrival of Lannoj's men at arms and 
 lanz-knechts, who ought to have been there be- 
 fore him. At length they did come, and Bour- 
 bon pursued his march ; but the failure of the 
 promised supply of money from England, partly 
 by accident, and partly through Wolsey's trea- 
 chery^ together with the time which had elapsed, 
 had exposed his design, and enabled Marseilles 
 to provide for his reception. 
 
 It was the news of this attack that roused Francis 
 
 prepares 
 
 Francis from his letharo:y. When he learnt that to repei 
 
 . I . , 111 bourbon s 
 
 Bourbon was actually in his realm at the head invasion. 
 of an army which, small though it was, might 
 effect the ruin of the country, he abandoned the 
 degrading pursuits in which he had been en- 
 gaged, and applied himself earnestly to the task 
 of repulsing his dangerous enemies. An army 
 of observation was hastily raised, and dispatched 
 with orders to harass the progress of the in- 
 vaders, but to avoid coming to an engagement. 
 A fleet was fitted out to defend the coast, and 
 the inhabitants of Marseilles so powerfully 
 aided these preparations, that Bourbon, on his 
 arrival before it, found it defied his attack. 
 The intractable Pescara, instead of aiding him, 
 added to his embarrassment, and by his jea- 
 lousy spread a feeling of distrust among the 
 soldiery ; the consequences of which were soon 
 
458 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, visible, (rt) A breach had been made in the 
 
 IX. . 
 
 '. — wall, but it was found that the entrance was so 
 
 well protected by an inner ditch_, that it was 
 impracticable to take advantage of it. Pescara, 
 upon learning this, hurried to Bourbon^s tent^ 
 where a council of war was assembled ; and, 
 without condescending to address the general, 
 he said, ''^ Gentlemen^ they who are in a hurry 
 to go to heaven^ cannot do better than to re- 
 main at this siege ; but for my part I mean to 
 return to Italy." Every body present joined 
 him^ and Bourbon was left mortified and alone 
 in his tent. He was compelled to issue orders 
 for a retreat^ which he saw would otherwise 
 The siege havc bceii made without his orders. The army 
 
 of Mar- . 
 
 seiUes withdrew from Marseilles leisurely^ and in per- 
 cept. 29. fectly good condition, and made for the Italian 
 frontier unmolested^ save by la Palice_, who, 
 with a few men at arms, attacked the rear, and 
 carried off some of the baggage ; and by Mont- 
 morenci^ who followed it, although ineffec- 
 tually, to Toulon. 
 
 The emperor's flotilla, commanded by Ugo de 
 Moncada, was still more unfortunate ; for, having 
 
 [a) The artillery of the town was so good and so well 
 served, that it did much damage to the besiegers. Pescara 
 was hearing mass in his own tent one day, when a shot en- 
 tered it and killed the officiating priest and two gentlemen 
 who were there. Bourbon, who had heard the noise which 
 ensued, hurried to the tent to know what had occasioned it. 
 " Oh, nothing," replied Pescara, with a cool sarcasm : 
 ** only the timid burghers of Marseilles, who are coming 
 with ropes about their necks and the keys in their hands." 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 459 
 
 fallen in with the galleys of Andrea Doria, then t:HAP. 
 in the service of France, and the French ships . — 
 commanded by the vice-admiral la Fayette, it 
 was completely defeate I ; several of the vessels 
 of which it ^\RS composed, were destroyed and 
 taken, and Philibert de Chalon, prince of 
 Orange, was among the prisoners. 
 
 These advantaoes on the side of the French Francis 
 king, which might have afforded him an oppor- laiy. 
 tunity of making an honourable and advan- 
 tageous peace, had only the effect of exciting 
 still more highly his sanguine spirit. He be- 
 lieved that his fortunes were once more to be in 
 the ascendant, and his old dreams of obtaining 
 possession of the Milanese, began again to haunt 
 him. Bonnivet, too, persuaded him that no- 
 thing was necessary to the conquest of that dis - 
 trict but his presence, and Francis lent a too 
 Avilling ear to suggestions which his own in- 
 clinations so powerfully favoured. It was in 
 vain represented to him by his wiser and better 
 councillors, that the season being now so far ad- 
 vanced, a campaign must expose his army to 
 needless loss and privations ;(a) and that every 
 principle of sound policy was opposed to so 
 rash a scheme; but his wilful determinatin 
 prevailed ; the enterprise was resolved on, and 
 the army began its march. 
 
 [a] Francis replied, with an unbecoming' levity, " that 
 such as were afraid of the cold, might stay in Provence." 
 — Varillas, t. i. 
 
460 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. X|^(3 duchess d'Angouleme heard of lier son's 
 
 IX. 
 
 intention^ notwithstanding the caution he had 
 adopted in order to conceal it from her ; and, 
 with a prophetic feeling that it would tend to 
 evil, she immediately set out for the purpose of 
 dissuading him from his ill-advised expedition. 
 She dispatched a courier before her, with an 
 urgent request that Francis would stay until 
 she joined him, and an intimation that she had 
 secrets to communicate to him of such impor- 
 tance, that they could not be committed to writ- 
 ing. Francis^ who guessed the purport of her 
 errand^ only replied by confirming her autho- 
 rity as regent ; and^ notwithstanding the news 
 of the Cjueen's death, (a) which reached him at 
 the same time, he crossed the Alps in all haste, 
 and marched his army to Milan ; of which, in 
 spite of Lannoy^s opposition, he made himself 
 master. 
 Takes Mi- Milan was now no lono^er the opulent and 
 
 1 OM C!7 1, 
 
 flourishing city it had formerly been. The ra- 
 vages of the plague had thinned its once redun- 
 
 (a) This event had taken place on the 26th of October, 
 1524. The mild and charitable disposition of the queen had 
 made her universally beloved throughout France, and the 
 treatment she had experienced from Francis had excited so 
 general a disgust among his people, that Bourbon had not 
 unreasonably founded some of his hopes of being able to dis- 
 place the king on this circumstance. To have affected grief 
 at her death, which his indifference and misconduct are sus- 
 pected to have hastened, would have been a refinement on 
 hypocrisy ; and of this, ut lea^l, Francis was not guilty. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 461 
 
 dant population^, the unsparing exactions of its chap. 
 fierce foes and its not less cruel friends had '— 
 
 reduced it to poverty and inis:ry, and the hor- 
 rors of war had left their desolating* traces in 
 its every street. Its local situation made its 
 possession still of some advantage ; but more 
 important conquests must be achieved before 
 Francis could hope to secure himself in Italy. 
 The cities of Lodi and of Pavia invited his 
 attack. In the former, a great part of the im- 
 perial army, worn out with their retreat, had 
 sought an asylum ; and the scantiness of the sup- 
 plies which it contained, and the ravages which 
 sickness had made in the garrison, rendered 
 it highly probable that it would fall before a 
 vigorous assault; while a blockade, if that 
 should be resorted to, must inevitably reduce it. 
 Bonnivet, ho^vever, advised the attack to be first 
 made upon Pavia ; and, as if fate had chosen 
 this man to be the instrument of disgrace and 
 ruin to France, his pernicious counsels were Encamps 
 again adopted, and Francis, encamping the ^^^^"^^ ^^" 
 greater part of his army in the park of Mira- 
 bello, invested the city. 
 
 Pavia was defended by da Leyva, who had 
 employed himself in strengthening the works so 
 effectually, and had been so earnestly assisted 
 by the inhabitants, the women of the place 
 even working in the trenches, that all attempts 
 to take it by assault were soon found to be 
 hopeless. After a brisk cannonade for several 
 days, a breach was made in the outer wall, and 
 
 via. 
 
462 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 IX. 
 
 the troops hurried on, believing- that the place 
 was taken. They found, upon their arrival, 
 that there was an inner fortification which lay 
 out of the range of their guns^ and which also 
 effectually defied their attempts. A long deep 
 trench was between this and the outer wall ; 
 every house in the place had been turned into 
 a fortress ; and there was not a window within 
 reach from which a fire was not kept up on 
 the assailants, (a) Another plan was then pro- 
 posed, and undertaken. It was thought^ that 
 by diverting the course of the river which 
 skirted one part of the walls^ the troops could 
 effect an entrance. Dams were made, the water 
 was stopped, and a canal dug to carry it off; 
 when the rains swelled the Ticino to such a 
 height as swept away the dams and levelled the 
 banks of the intended canal. Francis was then 
 convinced that he must rely upon slower me- 
 thods to reduce a place thus defended. 
 The Pope The Pope, who would gladly have seen so 
 pi-oiwses a ^g^jj()^g^ 3^,^^^ f^j. Italy, SO iiijurious a war brought 
 
 rej'ected. to a conclusiou, sent emissaries to Lannoy and 
 to Francis, to propose a truce of ^ve years, 
 during which the latter should retain possession 
 of such part of the Milanese as lies between the 
 Adda and the Po, with the exception of Lodi, 
 and that Milan should remain in the hands of 
 his holiness as an indifferent party. Lannoy 
 unhesitatingly replied, he would consent to no 
 truce which should leave the French one foot 
 
 (a) Du Bellay, 1. ii. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 
 
 463 
 
 C H A P. 
 IX. 
 
 of ground in the Milanese ; while Francis ex- 
 pressed his assured conviction^ that Pavia must 
 soon fall before him^ when the whole of the 
 duchy would be his. Clement, upon receiving 
 these answers to his offers^ under the belief, 
 perhaps^ that the French interests would pre- 
 vail, entered into a secret treaty with Francis ; 
 by which his holiness contracted, that neither 
 he nor the city of Florence should furnish any 
 succours to the emperor, upon Francis under- 
 taking to afford the republic of Florence his 
 protection — the meaning of which was, that the^ 
 French king should help the Pontiff to destroy; 
 the independence of that state. 
 
 The levies which Lannoy had drawn from DAubigny 
 Naples to strengthen the army in the Milanese, upon Na- 
 had almost left the former without defence. ^^^^* 
 This circumstance suggested to Francis the ex- 
 pedient of making an attack upon it which would 
 furnish employment for a part of his large army, 
 while his recent arrangement with the Pope 
 was highly favourable to this scheme. D'Au- 
 bigny was, therefore, dispatched with five thou- 
 sand men at arms to make his way to Naples, 
 and Lannoy could not persuade his colleague, 
 Pescara, nor his own Spaniards, to come to an 
 engagement ; the only measure by which the 
 enemy^s progress could have been effectually 
 stayed. The want of money for payment of 
 the troops, and the scarcity of provisions, in- 
 creased the discontent of the imperialists, as 
 well in camp as in the city of Pavia, The em-? 
 
464 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 IX. 
 
 peror was lying sick in Spain of a fever and 
 ague ; his army was weak^ as well as dissa- 
 tisfied, and his generals thwarted and distrusted 
 each other. Francis^ although his troops suf- 
 fered from the inclemency of the weather, and 
 from the scantiness of supplies, was in a much 
 more advantageous position than his enemies ; 
 and every thing seemed to promise a successful 
 issue to his campaign. 
 
 The most pressing danger which menaced the 
 imperialists^ was the mutiny of da Leyva's gar- 
 rison for their pay. He had apprized Lannoy of 
 the position in which he was placed, and tlie 
 viceroy devised a scheme for his relief, which he 
 
 Money commuuicated to the commandant. No sup- 
 conveyed . , ■■- 
 
 by strata- phcs could I'cach the city, so completely was it 
 
 gem into j ' i. ^ 
 
 Pavia. invested, without traversing the French camp. 
 Two of Lannoy 's troops^ in the dress of coun- 
 trymen, and mounted on hackneys, while each 
 of them led another horse, over which was slung 
 two small barrels of wine^ presented themselves 
 at the outposts. There was nothing in their 
 appearance to excite suspicion^ and the supply 
 of wine which they brought was so acceptable^ 
 that they were gladly received. They rode 
 along through the camp, as if looking for a 
 convenient spot whence they might dispose of 
 their commodities to the clamorous purchasers 
 who thronged about them, and having at length 
 drawn near the wall of the city^ they made a 
 show of opening their barrels. At this moment 
 da Leyva^ who had watched all their move- 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 
 
 465 
 
 CHAP. 
 IX. 
 
 ments, made a vigorous and sudden sally, drove 
 away the crowd, and seized the barrels, which, 
 instead of wine, contained a store of crowns, 
 and sufficed to stop, for a time, the mouths of 
 his noisy mercenaries, (a) 
 
 Bourbon, who was tired of the dilatory cam- Bourbon 
 
 ' •' recruits m 
 
 paign in the Milanese, and who was mortified Germany. 
 and disgusted at the treatment he experienced 
 from the officers who shared the command with 
 him, cjuitted Italy for the purpose of raising 
 some additional troops. He addressed himself 
 first to the duke of Savoy, who had quitted the 
 French for the imperial interests, and who, 
 although he would not declare openly in his fa- 
 vour, lent him a c^uantity of valuable jewels, upon 
 which Bourbon raised a large sum of money. 
 AVith this supply, and backed by his own repu- 
 tation, he went into Germany, where, with the 
 assistance of George Freundsberg, {b) a military 
 
 (a) This was only a temporary relief to the hungry lanz- 
 knechts. Da Leyva was obliged, to prevent their breaking 
 into open mutiny, to seize the sacred utensils, and other ob- 
 jects composed of the precious metals which he found in the 
 churches, and which he coined for payment of their arrears. 
 He at the same time made a solemn vow, that if he suc- 
 ceeded in preserving the city, he would replace them by 
 more valuable ones. When he was reminded in after-times 
 of this vow, he replied, that he had made it in the name 
 and for the service of the emperor ; to whom, he therefore, 
 left the task of performing it. — Brantome. Capit. Etr. 
 
 (b) Freundsberg enjoyed, at this time, a reputation simi- 
 lar to that which Sickinghen had gained a few years before. 
 He was a man of gigantic stature, and brutal manners ; but 
 
 VOL. I. H H 
 
466 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, adventurer of great renown, and a zealous par- 
 L_ tizan of the reformed religion^ he succeeded 
 
 in raising a body of twelve thousand well-dis- 
 ciplined and experienced lanz-knechts. He 
 inarched them into Italy; and joining the im- 
 perial forces, found himself so powerful and in- 
 dependent, that he could now undertake,, without 
 fear of check from his colleagues, such enter- 
 prises as he thought most advisable. 
 State of the While the imperial army was thus reinforced, 
 army*!^ the Strength of Francis was daily diminishing. 
 The rigour of the weather had been so severely 
 felt^ that many of the leaders had returned for 
 the recovery of their health into France. The 
 regiments were thinned by desertion, the dis- 
 cipline relaxed^ and, what was worse than all, 
 the dishonest rapacity of some of the officers had 
 induced them to represent that their companies 
 were complete, in order to obtain the full pay ; 
 when many of them had, in fact, not half their 
 numbers. The impunity with which these frauds 
 were practised, gave them a fatal encourage- 
 ment ; and Bourbon, who knew the state of his 
 enemy's force much better than Francis himself, 
 was prepared to take advantage of it. He had 
 
 he was an able soldier and accomplished in all the arts of 
 war, as it was then practised. He professed irreconcilable 
 hatred against the church of Rome, was always ready to en- 
 gage in any project which might be injurious to it, and car- 
 ried a silken cord in his pocket, for the purpose, as he said, 
 of strangling the Pope, if ever an opportunity presented itself, 
 in a manner consistent with the Pontiff's dignity. — Bran- 
 tome. Varillas, t. i. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 467 
 
 already given his voice for an attack, and c"a.p. 
 
 although it had not yet been decided upon, the '. — 
 
 imperial forces had advanced somewhat nearer 
 to Pavia. Thev rained also some triflintr sue- 
 cesses^ which raised the spirits of the soldiery. 
 
 The most serious disadvantage which Francis Desertion 
 sustained was^ however, in the defection of six Swiss. 
 thousand Grisons. Gian Giacomo Medequin, 
 an adventurer of most daring spirit^ who had 
 raised himself from poverty and obscurity by 
 some hazardous but fortunate enterprises, had 
 undertaken to compel these Switzers to return 
 to their own country. He planned a secret at- 
 tack upon the governor of the castle of Chia- 
 venna^ an important stronghold of theirs, near 
 the lake of Como, and succeeded in carrying 
 him off. He soon afterwards went with his 
 troop to the fortress, and requested to see the 
 lady of the commandant. She appeared upon 
 the ramparts ; when Medequin shewed her her 
 husband, bound hand and foot ; and, holding his 
 own sword to the governor's throat, threatened 
 to stab him before her face if she did not yield 
 the place. She preferred the more natural and 
 womanly to the heroic course, and, to save her 
 husband's life, opened the gates of the fortress 
 to Medequin. The news of this spread round 
 the whole of the province. In a general as- 
 sembly it was determined to recall such of their 
 troops as were in the French service, and orders 
 were dispatched to the camp for their instant 
 return. Francis exerted entreaties and promises 
 
 hh2 
 
468 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, equally ill vain; the inflexible Grisons quitted 
 ___1_ him on the instant, and marched to defend their 
 
 own country. 
 1525. Da Leyva^ encouraged by this event, and by 
 
 riaiists""^^ the belief that the imperial generals Mere now 
 en^aT- ^^^^ ^^^^ williug to assi&t him, quitted the de- 
 ment; fensive system he had hitherto pursued, and 
 began to annoy the French camp by frequent 
 sallies. The imperial army approached nearer ; 
 Francis concentrated his troops ; and it soon 
 became apparent that Pavia could not be taken 
 without coming to a general engagement. A 
 council was held to deliberate upon the course 
 which should be pursued. The more expe- 
 rienced of Francis's generals ; the men who had 
 grown grey in harness, and whose blood had 
 been shed in all the battles that had lately been 
 fought, advised him, with onevoice^ to break up 
 his camp ; to decline a battle which he could 
 not fight but upon very disadvantageous terms; 
 and to retire to Binasco. A victory would 
 hardly be worth gaining, while a defeat, if that 
 should happen, would be to the last degree 
 ruinous. They therefore counselled him to with- 
 draw, to give his army the repose which they so 
 much wanted, to await the arrival of reinforce- 
 mentSj and to disappoint the plans which his 
 enemies had laid to force him to an engagement. 
 Wise as this counsel was, Francis could not 
 bring himself to adopt it. He had pledged him- 
 Francis s^^f verbally, and in his dispatches^ to take Pavia, 
 ^ or perish before it ; and the absurd vanity of per 
 
 determines 
 to come to 
 
IX. 
 
 OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. ' 469 
 
 forming such a vaunt to the letter, induced liim <^hap. 
 to listen to the rash siii>'<^estions of Bonnivet^ 
 Brion, and Montmorenci, who, ^vith a presump- 
 tion which never stavs to calculate danoers, 
 urged him to place every thing on a battle. 
 This fatal course was determined upon, and 
 Francis resolved to come to an engagement as 
 soon as the movements of his enemies should 
 enable him to do so. 
 
 The imperialists, although their numbers had 
 increased^ were in a situation of great difficulty, 
 from which none but desperate measures could 
 extricate them. The season was risforous and 
 unwholesome. They were ill supplied with all 
 the necessaries of war^ and the discontent of a 
 great part of the troops, who had novv been a 
 long time without pay, broke out in alanning 
 murmurs. It became apparent that one of two 
 things must be eifected without delay ; that 
 either the generals must disband their forces and 
 retire from the place^ or set all their hopes upon 
 the single chance of a battle. The first was 
 ruinous ; the second hazardous in the extreme ; 
 yet it was this latter measure that the impetuous 
 Pescara counselled, while Bourbon, who wished 
 for it most earnestly, seconded him with all his 
 influence. The vicerov, Lannov, maintained the 
 expediency of retreating, until he was overcome 
 by the vehemence of his colleagues. An attack, 
 then^ was determined upon ; but in the way of 
 effecting it there lay many serious difficulties. 
 
 The position taken up by Francis was ex- 
 
470 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 IX. 
 
 tremely favourable for that plan of defensive 
 operation on which he had determined. He 
 The had placed his camp in the park of Mirabello^ 
 campment. whlcli cxtcndcd to tlic vcry walls of Pavia, and 
 which resembled, in some respects, that unas- 
 sailable post of which the Swiss had made so 
 good a use at Bicocca,, while it possessed, in ad- 
 dition, some very important advantages. The 
 park was surrounded by solid stone and brick 
 walls, much too high to be scaled, and too solid 
 to be thrown down by any sudden attack. 
 These walls extended from the emperor's camp 
 to the city of Pavia ; a line of posts was kept up 
 within them, and not the slightest movement 
 could be made by the imperialists without its 
 being perceived by the French force. The pa- 
 lace of Mirabello stood in the centre of the park. 
 It was strong in itself, and had been made, by 
 the cares of Francis, a perfect fortress, and here 
 he had taken up his quarters. The rear guard, 
 under the duke d'Alen^on, was encamped in the 
 park, and the van, which la Palice commanded, 
 occupied the suburbs of the city. By forcing* 
 the park, and penetrating through the main and 
 the rear guards, or both, the imperialists might 
 effect a passage ; but this seemed so nearly im- 
 possible in its execution, that Francis could 
 not believe his enemies would dream of at- 
 tempting it. By passing the Ticino they might 
 also have reached the city ; but this was so 
 directly under the command of the French ar- 
 tillery that it was not to be thought of 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 471 
 
 Bourbon and Pescara,, when their determina- chap. 
 tion was once taken^ were indefatigable in their ^^' 
 exertions to brino^ the king to an engagement 
 without the entrenchments of the park. Pescara 
 kept his men constantly engaged in skirmishing 
 by night as well as by day. He had^ with great 
 labour, got a mound raised high enough for a 
 single cannon, which he planted upon it, to 
 reach the French lines ; and with this gun, and 
 with one other from the walls of Pavia, great 
 mischief was done to the king^s troops before 
 they succeeded in silencing them. 
 
 Da Le} va had made a successful attack upon 
 the troops who guarded Borgorotto and San 
 Lanfranco, in which he succeeded in carrying 
 off three guns, and a quantity of ammunition. 
 Giovanni de^ Medici, who had the command of 
 that post, was exceedingly annoyed at this dis- 
 grace, and, by an affectation of carelessness, he 
 provoked da Leyva to renew his attack, when 
 having planted an ambush, he opened it so op- 
 portunely, that he completely defeated the garri- 
 son troops, destroyed many of them, and drove 
 the others back in confusion to Pavia. Upon his 
 return to the camp, he met the admiral, Brion, 
 who asked him the particulars of his success. 
 De' Medici returned with him to shew him the 
 spot in which he had planted his ambush ; and 
 while he was thus employed he was shot in the 
 heel by one of the Spanish soldiers, who had 
 hid himself after the fight in a house near the 
 place. The wound was so painful, and assumed 
 
472 
 
 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 IX. 
 
 The Pope 
 endea- 
 vours to 
 dissuade 
 Francis 
 from an 
 engage- 
 ment. 
 
 The impe- 
 rialists at- 
 tack the 
 French by 
 night. 
 
 SO serious an appearance, that de* Medici was 
 obliged to leave the camp, and was carried to 
 Piacenza, through the imperial army, by permis- 
 sion of Pescara. (a) 
 
 During the whole of this period the Pope kept 
 up the appearance of wishing to bring about a 
 pacification between Francis and the imperial 
 generals. For this purpose he had two cardinal 
 legates, one in the imperial camp, and the other 
 in that of the French king, who in fact served him 
 as spies^ and furnished him with constant and 
 certain inteUigence of the state of both armies. 
 Clement communicated the information which 
 these emissaries gave him to Francis and conjured 
 him^ by their common interests, not to be induced 
 to give the enemy battle. He assured him that 
 he had seen letters from several of the generals 
 in the imperial army, who stated that it was with 
 difficulty they held their troops together, and 
 that, if the result of an engagement should not 
 soon furnish them with money for the payment 
 of the troops^ it would be impossible to prevent 
 the mercenaries from disbanding. Francis did 
 not doubt the truth of this intelligence^ but he 
 had resolved to fight, and his evil destiny and 
 the proceedings of the enemy soon gave him 
 the opportunity for which he panted. 
 
 Pescara planned an assault, which the gover- 
 nor of Pavia was to second by a simultaneous 
 movement on the van guard under la Palice. He 
 divided the chief force of his army into four bo- 
 la) Guicciardini, 1. xv. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 473 
 
 dies. Laiinoy commanded the heavy liorse ; Pes- <^ " ^ p. 
 
 cara himself led a small but well-selected battalion '- — 
 
 of light horse, accompanied by a body of cross- 
 bowmen ; and the duke of Bourbon brought up 
 the main body of lanz-knechts and other in- 
 fantry. Before these troops, or any of them, could 
 act_, it was necessary that an entrance should 
 be effected, and this task was entrusted to a 
 large body of pioneers, whose operations were 
 to be carried on in the night-time. In order to 
 conceal the noise which they must necessarily 
 make, a camisade, like that in which Bayard 
 had nearly been taken at Rebec, was arranged ; 
 and all the preparations being completed, the 
 night of the 23d of February was fixed for 
 putting it in practice. Bourbon had picked 
 out three thousand soldiers from his own troops, 
 and from the lanz-knechts, whom he ordered to 
 put their shirts on the outside of their armour. 
 They attacked the park of Mirabello, while two 
 feigned assaults were at the same time made 
 from other quarters ; and while the attention of 
 the French force was thus engaged, the pioneers 
 were busily working at the walls unheard, 
 amidst the din of the conflict which ensued. 
 This scheme had precisely the effect it was in- 
 tended to produce. The French, busied in de- 
 fending themselves at all points, against an ene- 
 my whose number they did not know, and whose 
 strength in the darkness and uncertainty which 
 prevailed, they believed to be much more for- 
 midable than it really >> as, were thus prevented 
 
474 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, from accurately observiiio^ them; and when the 
 
 T Y 
 
 '. — light of day appeared, they discovered that dur- 
 ing these mock encounters the pioneers had em- 
 ployed themselves so vigorously and effectually 
 in sapping the wall^ that a great part of it was 
 at once thrown down, and an easy entrance was 
 furnished to the Spanish troops, who poured 
 into the park. 
 
 The battle The Prcuch spies had informed Francis that 
 
 oi P&vis 
 
 an attack was meditated, but the secret v/as so 
 well kept by the imperial leaders^ that they were 
 unable to acquaint them with the spot against 
 which it was to be directed. Francis however 
 was on the alert ; he had sent away all the train 
 which commonly followed the camp, in order 
 that the space between him and his enemies 
 might be free for action. Upon the first alarm 
 of the attack^ believing that the operations of 
 the enemy would be directed against the castle 
 of Mirabello, he drew out the whole of his force 
 into the park^ for the purpose of repelling the 
 attack, but rapidly as this movement was ef- 
 fected, it was too late. The imperialists did not 
 offer to attack the king, but ran rapidly along 
 the left of his army, with the double view of 
 getting possession of the castle, and of entering 
 Pavia. 
 
 D'Avalos, the young marquis du Guast, who 
 had just begun that career which he afterwards 
 rendered so brilliant, was foremost in this ex- 
 ploit. He reached and took the castle by assault, 
 and had detached a part of his troop to the gate of 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 475 
 
 Pavia, which they would infalUbly have entered, ^"^p. 
 
 but for the resolute resistance made by Brion, 
 
 who met and drove them back with great loss. 
 
 The other detachments were hurrying onwards 
 with a similar design ^ when they were assailed 
 and thrown into disorder by a well-directed can- 
 nonade from the French guns. Galiot de Ge- 
 nouillac, who had the command of the artillery, 
 had first placed it in such a manner as to com- 
 mand the opening through which the imperial 
 troops were rushing in. By a rapid and dex- 
 terous movement he changed the point of his 
 guns so as to command the ranks in their pro- 
 gress, and opened upon them a most destructive 
 fire, (a) They found it impossible to withstand 
 this ; and Bourbon^ who saw that every thing 
 depended upon their being extricated from their 
 position^ ordered them to divide into smaller 
 bodies, and to change their course so as to get 
 beyond the reach of the dreadful guns. At this 
 moment, when an ordinary portion of coolness 
 and presence of mind must have ensured the 
 victory, the inconsiderate rashness of the king 
 frighted away the fortune that was almost within 
 his grasp ; and, by a deplorable mistake, turned 
 the fate of the day. Instead of attacking the rem- 
 nant of du Guast's troop and finishing their de- 
 feat, while he left to Genouillac the defence of 
 the breach, he marched his division directly 
 
 (a) Freundsberg's account of the battle is in MSS. Cotton. 
 Vitell. B. vii., from which many of the circumstances have 
 been collected. 
 
476 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, before the t^uns, and from a vain desire, as it 
 '■ — was believed, of enjoying all the honour of re- 
 pulsing the assault, completely masked the fire. 
 The imperialists no sooner saw that the cannon 
 were silenced than they rallied, and again pre- 
 pared for an attack. Bourbon, at the head of 
 his German troops, who had closed in a body, 
 and Pescara, with the Spaniards, marched im- 
 petuously against the king's force. Lannoy, 
 with the Italian division, followed their example 
 on the other side, while du Guast, having had 
 time to form his thinned ranks into order again, 
 attacked him in the rear, and was ably seconded 
 by Antonio da Leyva, who made a vigorous 
 and opportune sally from Pavia with his cavalry. 
 La Palice saw, with consternation, the mis- 
 take which had been committed, and the prompt 
 advantage which the enemy were about to take 
 of it. In order, if it were yet possible, to re- 
 trieve the consequences of the king's ill-advised 
 movement, he marched the van, which he com- 
 manded, towards the battle, and thus formed 
 one wing, while the duke d'Alen^on more tar- 
 dily followed his example on the other side, 
 and presented a new force to the encounter of 
 the enemy. Between Chabannes and the king's 
 division were the black bands, the duke of 
 Gueldres' troops, who had so bravely distin- 
 guished themselves at Marignan, and who, by 
 their exploits there, had incurred the everlasting 
 enmity of the Swiss. Their numbers were re- 
 duced, by the wars they had been engaged in, 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 477 
 
 to five thousand men, and they were led bv ^"^p- 
 
 VTT 
 
 the persecuted White Rose, de ki Pole. On the '— 
 
 left of the kino'^s body, and between the wing 
 formed by the duke d^Alen^on, was a corps of 
 eight thousand Swiss, commanded by colonel 
 Diespach. The battle, at the head of which 
 Francis had placed himself, was composed al- 
 most entirely of gendarmes, by whom, and by 
 the cavalry of either wing, the two bodies of 
 foot were supported. 
 
 This arrangement of the forces presented a 
 long line, which the imperialists equalled in 
 extent by dividing their forces into many small 
 bodies, capable of being easily moved, and well 
 adapted to co-operate with each other as occa- 
 sion might require. The imperialists first di- 
 rected their attack against the battle and the 
 right wing\ The black bands were the parti- 
 cular object of the animosity of the Germans, 
 who looked upon them as rebels, and a reci- 
 procal hatred animated their exertions. They 
 had been put under ban of the empire for con- 
 tinuing in the service of France, and their con- 
 viction that they had no cjuarter to expect from 
 their foes, together with the exhortations of 
 the gallant White Rose, who led them, added 
 the energy of despair to their natural bravery. 
 They fought with a reckless disregard of life ; 
 but the number of their enemies was too great 
 to be resisted. Bourbon directed Freundsberg 
 and Sith, who commanded under him^ to 
 lengthen their front, and advance the extreme 
 
478 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, gi^^g Qf each so as to take the black bands, as it 
 
 TV- 
 
 '■ — were, in a vice. They were thus attacked on all 
 
 sides, and after a gallant defence, in which their 
 leader was badly wounded, {a) they were mi- 
 serably cut to pieces, but fell without yielding 
 an inch, or quitting the position they had taken 
 up. (b) 
 
 The lanz-knechts, whom this success had 
 flushed and excited, then turned their attack 
 upon the right wing, which had suffered greatly 
 from a charge made upon it by the Neapolitan 
 division under Castaldo, the next in command 
 
 [a] Pole, or the White Rose, the Pretender against Henry, 
 who was called king of the Scots, did not fall in the battle, 
 but afterwards. Sandoval mentions that, when the army 
 was broken up, he put on the green coat of a servant, and 
 throwing away his helmet, endeavoured to escape. He met, 
 on his way, a company of peasants, and desired one to shew 
 him the road to Vigera, giving him a gold chain, and pro- 
 mising him two hundred ducats when he arrived there. 
 This liberality tempted the man to be a villain. As they came 
 to a bog, tbe peasant treacherously bade him ride across 
 it. He rode boldly into it as desired, and suddenly his 
 horse sank to his belly in a quagmire. The wretch waited 
 for this incident, and as Pole was struggling in the marshy 
 ground, clove his head with a hatchet. But the justice of 
 the commiserating enemy punished the perfidious crime. The 
 clown boasting of the feat, it became known, and he was 
 hanged for the treachery. — Turner's Henry VHl., vol. i. 
 
 [b) It is said, that when Francis visited the field of battle 
 after the fight was over, he observed the spot in which his 
 black bands had fallen, and where they lay almost in ranks ; 
 and that he said to some of those who accompanied him, **lf 
 all my subjects had done their duty as well as these brave 
 men, the Spaniards would have been my prisoners instead 
 of my being theirs. Du Bellay, 1. ii. p. 3^. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 
 
 479 
 
 to Pescara. Twice had la Palice driven them ^"ap- 
 
 back, but they retiirnetl to the attack ; and when '— 
 
 they were joined by the lanz-knechts the vete- 
 ran saw the odds were too great for him to re- 
 sist. His lieutenant, Clermont d'Amboise, was 
 killed within his sight ; and while the gallant 
 old marechal was making a vain effort to rally 
 his disheartened troops, his horse was shot under 
 him. He disengaged himself with wonderful 
 agility from his falling steed, and was hastening 
 to join the infantry, when Castaldo took him 
 prisoner. The captor, who respected his valour 
 and his years, was extremely desirous of placing 
 him in security, and was conducting him from 
 the field, when he was encountered by a Spa- 
 nish captain, named Buzarto. The latter, judg- 
 ing from the splendid armour and majestic ap- 
 pearance of la Palice, that he was a person of 
 some consequence, insisted on sharing the ad- 
 vantages which tlie prize might produce. Cas- 
 taldo resisted his claim, an altercation ensued 
 between them, to which Buzarto put an end 
 by discharging his harquebuss at la Palice, ex- 
 claiming, " If he is not my prisoner, he shall 
 never be yours.** Thus fell the hero of a thou- 
 sand battles by the ignoble hands of a ruffian, 
 whose desire of gain and thirst of blood extin- 
 guished in him all sense of honour and man- 
 liness, [a) 
 
 (a) There had not been a battle of any note in this or the 
 two preceding reigns at which la Palice had not been pre- 
 sent. In 1495, he was at Fornova ; in 1503, at Ruvo and at 
 
the battle. 
 
 480 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. Ijj i\^Q ineaiitime, the fio-ht was continued in 
 
 IX. . 
 
 '- the main battle, where Francis commanded in 
 
 pei-son,, with the utmost resolution on either 
 side. The king was distinguished b} his large 
 figure, and the striking splendour of his dress, 
 from the warriors who surrounded him. He 
 wore over his armour a surcoat of cloth of silver, 
 and had a flowing plume in his casque ; but 
 his deeds in arms served to point him out still 
 more clearly to the enemy^ and made the spot 
 in which he fought the most perilous part of 
 the field. 
 
 Francis's personal prowess and unconquerable 
 
 courage in rcsolutiou OH this dav set an example to his sol- 
 diers, which, if it had been properly followed, 
 must have given a totally different result to the 
 fight from that which befell. He killed^ with 
 his own hand, Fernando Castriot, marquis of St. 
 Angelo, the last of the royal race of Albania, and 
 grandson of the celebrated Scanderbeg^ and 
 wounded a gentleman of Franche Comte, named 
 Andelot, by laying open his cheek with a blow 
 of his sword. Many less remarkable persons 
 fell under him ; and wherever the fight was the 
 thickest, there was the king seen playing his 
 part in the desperate scene with a valour and 
 hardihood which could not be exceeded. 
 
 Cerignolle ; in 1509, at Agnadello ; in 1512, at Ravenna, 
 where his valour had been so eminently distinguished, that 
 he was unanimously elected the commander-in-chief after 
 the death of Gaston de Foix ; in 1513, at the Fight of the 
 Spurs; at Marignan, Bicocca, and last at Pavia, besides a 
 multitude of other engagements and sieges which were as 
 full of glory and peril as general battles. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 481 
 
 1 he men at arms whom the king led had ^"ap. 
 
 charged so furiously the troops of St. Aiigelo^ 
 and were so well seconded by the Swiss, that 
 the Italians were broken and in utter disorder. 
 Before, however, the French king could avail 
 himself of this advantage, Pescara moved up 
 his steady files of Spanish foot, which presented 
 a front impenetrable by the cavalry. At the 
 same moment he put in practice a manoeuvre 
 which he had devised, and which ^ being then 
 seen for the first time, was so fatally successful 
 as mainly to decide the fortune of the day. He 
 had raised a body of fifteen hundred Basque 
 cross-bow men, picked out for their agility and 
 skill in their peculiar weapon, and had drilled 
 them carefully until they had acquired the re- 
 quisite facility in performing the novel service 
 to which he had destined them. At his signal 
 the close ranks of his pikes opened, and the 
 Basques, issuing in small detachments, approach- 
 ed within rano'e of the French oendarmes, le- 
 veiled and discharged, and retired with the velo- 
 city of birds behind the friendly pikes, which 
 effectually protected them against the pursuit of 
 the horse. The execution thev did was im- 
 inense, and the confusion which the suddenness 
 of the movement created was even more fatal. 
 The king ordered the ranks of the cavalry to 
 open, to offer a less certain aim to the destructive 
 bowmen ; but this only aggravated the evil ; for 
 although the Basques were dismounted, yet hav^ 
 ino' nothino- to carrv but their bows and bolts. 
 
 IX. 
 
 VOL. I. I 1 
 
482 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 C 11 A P. 
 
 IX. 
 
 and being remarkably swift of foot, they ran 
 between the French ranks, picked out their 
 men, {a) discharged at leisure, and were able ef- 
 fectually to avoid the pursuit or the blow s of the 
 heavily -accoutred men at arms, who could not 
 turn but slowly, and with difficulty. By this 
 mischievous attack many of the most distin- 
 guished officers fell, {b) for their crests and pen- 
 nons easily pointed them out to the aim of the 
 Basques, and in less than an hour, the invincible 
 chivalry of France was disordered and cut to 
 pieces by the attack of an apparently insignifi- 
 cant enemy, who could hardly be seen, and 
 whose safety consisted in the celerity of their 
 movements. 
 
 It was in this time of peril, when nothing 
 could have saved the king and his cavalry from 
 total destruction, but the prompt succour of a 
 body of infantry to keep off the bowmen, that 
 the duke d'Alen^on, who commanded the left 
 
 [a] The brave and able la Tremoille received two bolts at 
 the same time ; one of which passed through his head, and 
 the other pierced his heart. 
 
 {b) Among- them was the grand esquire of France, the 
 count deSt. Severin, whose horse also was shot, fell covered 
 with wounds. The duty of this officer was to guard the king's 
 person in the fight, and so well had he performed that duty, 
 that his body was literally covered with wounds. When Gitil- 
 laume du Bellay, who saw him fall, ran to his assistance, 
 the dying warrior s,aid to him, " You can do nothing for me ; 
 look to the king, and leave me to die." That Louis d'Ars, 
 who had so distinguished himself in the retreat from Ve- 
 nousse, was cut from his horse and trampled upon — a fate 
 which befell several others. — Brantorae. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 48J 
 
 wing, and who had as yet taken no part in the 
 engagement, instead of advancing towards the 
 battle, ordered his troops to retreat. («) The 
 larice body of Swiss who were between his ca- 
 vah'y and the king's, and who reckoned on being 
 supported by him, seeing this, were struck with 
 terror. Tliey had seen the black bands de- 
 feated, and believed that the German foot, be- 
 tween whom and themselves existed the most 
 bitter hatred, were advancing to them with a 
 like intent, while the duke d'Alen9on's in- 
 explicable retreat must expose them to a simi- 
 lar fate. Under this impression they fell back 
 in confusion. Fleuranges, who was half dis- 
 tracted at so ruinous a movement, galloped up 
 to the front of their ranks, implored them to 
 think of what must be the consequences of their 
 desertion, employed entreaties, remonstrances^ 
 
 (a) Clement Marot, the most original and natural poet that 
 France had then produced, had followed the army to Italy, 
 in the retinue of the duke d'Alencon. He fought under him 
 in the battle, but did not follow the disgraceful example of 
 his leader. He was wounded, and made prisoner among 
 those who fought around the king's person, and afterwards 
 accompanied Francis to Spain. He has commemorated these 
 facts in his own verses : 
 
 *' La, fut perce tout outre rudement 
 Le bras de cil, qui t'ayme loyaument : 
 Non pas la bras, dont il ha de coustume 
 De manier ou la lance, ou la plume. 
 Amour encor le te garde et reserve ; 
 Finalement, avec le roi mon maistre, 
 De la les monts prisonnier se vit ts'rt^, 
 Mon trisle corps." 
 
 CHAP. 
 IX. 
 
484 " THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, and promises to induce them to remain firm, and 
 
 IX. 
 
 '. — offered, by way of restoring their confidence, 
 
 that his own troop of gendarmes should dis- 
 mount, and charge on foot in their first rank ; 
 but all was in vain; nothing could restrain 
 them; they fled disgracefully, (a) 
 
 The Fleuran^es did all that was left to him ; he 
 
 French 
 
 army is rodc to tlic battle, and joined his troop to those 
 who still fought around Francis, and thither 
 also repaired the remnant of the right wing. 
 The conflict here became dreadful : the French 
 gentlemen fought with irresistible energy. They 
 closed about the king, and made several charges 
 so fiercely as to break the lanz-knechts, and 
 effectually stopped the bowmen, by trampling 
 them under their horses' feet. Pescara was 
 wounded in the face, thrown from his horse, 
 and narrowly escaped the fate which the greater 
 part of his Basques experienced. Lannoy, who 
 had little experience, and still less of that presence 
 of mind, which is the first requisite in a leader, 
 came up to his assistance, but was beaten back. 
 If the French cavalry had now been in any de- 
 gree succoured, the day might still have been 
 
 [a) Diespach, who commanded, finding that it was im- 
 possible to stop the flight of his troops, was so overcome with 
 shame and despair, that he rushed alone upon the lanz- 
 knechts, casting away the life which the misconduct Of his 
 men had rendered intolerable. La Roche du Main, the duke 
 d'AlenQon's lieutenant, when he found he could not change 
 his dastardly leader's determination, left his troop and rode 
 to the battle, where he joined those who were fighting around 
 the king. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 485 
 
 Fiducis's ; but they fought against odds, wliich 
 were every moment increasing. All the im- 
 perial leaders who had been engaged in different 
 parts of the field, hastened up to the single spot 
 in which the fight was continued. Still the 
 gendarmes remained firm. Du Guast, Castaldo, 
 da Leyva, with their several divisions, assailed 
 them, but the French cavalry kept them at bay 
 until Bourbon brought up his irresistible bands. 
 A geneial charge was now made with such im- 
 petuosity, that the small and exhausted troop 
 around the king were broken in many places, 
 and it became impossible for them to close 
 
 C H A p. 
 IX. 
 
 again. 
 
 Francis 
 
 In this dreadful spot, where war had assumed 
 its most furious aspect, Francis still continued is made 
 to fight. He was surrounded by enemies ; but 
 he still dealt his blows with a vigour and effect 
 which made him a most formidable enemy, even 
 when he was almost the onlv one left. He is 
 said to have killed six of his assailants here when 
 his horse was shot, and he was thrown down. 
 Although he had two wounds in his leg, and 
 a cut on his forehead, which had bled so pro- 
 fusely as to weaken him considerably, he ma- 
 naged to release himself from his horse^ and 
 leaping to his feet renewed the combat. It was 
 however impossible that such a contest could 
 long endure. His enemies implored him to 
 surrender^ but he could not endure the thought 
 of yielding to the common soldiers, who were 
 then his only assailants. He would probably have 
 
486 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP. 
 IX. 
 
 been cut down, but for the arrival of Pomperant, 
 
 - the adherent of Bourbon, and the companion of 
 
 his flig-ht. Seeing the king in a situation of so 
 
 much perils his old feelings of loyalty revived; 
 
 he prevailed upon the soldiers to stand aside for 
 
 a moment, and throwing himself at the king's 
 
 feet^ he besought him to continue no longer a 
 
 resistance which was wholly in vain, and must 
 
 end in his destruction. Francis listened to him ; 
 
 ])ut on Pomperant's proposing that he should 
 
 yield to Bourbon, (a) who was at hand, the 
 
 king replied, " that he would die a thousand 
 
 times rather than surrender to that hateful 
 
 traitor." Pomperant then mentioned the vice- 
 
 roy of Naples ; the king consented, and Lannoy 
 
 being sent for, Francis gave him his sword, 
 
 which the vicerov reCv^ived on his knees, and. 
 
 (a) Lord Herbert, whose account is taken from Sandoval, 
 says, " The first of the chief commanders that came in was 
 the Marquis de Pescara ; after him Guasto and others. At 
 last Bourbon, armed cap-a-pie, and with his sword bloody 
 in his hand, approached the king-, who demanded his name. 
 Being told, he stepped a little behind Pescara, who perceiv- 
 ing the king troubled, went to Bourbon and demanded his 
 sword. The duke gave it, and running lo the king, and 
 lifting up his beaver, cast himself on his knees, and humbly 
 demanded the royal hand to kiss. The king refused. Here- 
 upon, Bourbon, with tears in his eyes, said, * Sir ! if you 
 would have foUov.ed my counsel, you should not have needed 
 to be in this estate; nor so much blood of the French no- 
 bility shed as stains the fields of Italy !' The king turning 
 his eyes up to heaven, replied only, * Patience ! since for- 
 tune has failed me .' Farther discourse was hindered by 
 
 Pescara, who, desiring the king to mount on horseback, 
 conducted him towards Pavia." — P. lOG. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 487 
 
 CHAP. 
 JX. 
 
 e- 
 nieanour 
 
 kissing Francis's hand, respectfully presented 
 him with another weapon, (a) 
 
 The kin«' particularly desired that he mig-ht "'^ a 
 not be taken to Pavia, fearino* that the threats after the 
 
 . . battle. 
 
 he had vented against that city being remem- 
 bered in his present humiliating condition, 
 would exposs him to ridicule and scorn, with- 
 out which his sufferings were sufficiently bitter. 
 Lannoy conducted him to his own tent, where 
 his wounds were dressed, and whence he wrote 
 to his mother that celebrated letter^ the whole 
 contents of which^ as if he could not trust him- 
 self to express less laconically the humiliation 
 and despair he felt, were — ^' Madame, all is lost 
 — but honour." (b) 
 
 In this battle^ so fatal to Francis and his 
 realm, fell the very flower of the French chi- 
 valry. The Bastard of Savoy, the grand master 
 of France, was carried off the field alive; but 
 he had been so miserably crushed and mangled 
 in the press, that he died in dreadful agony at 
 Pavia, soon after he arrived there. Lescun, 
 who was so badly wounded that he believed he 
 should not survive, rode about the field with a 
 furious desire of meeting Bonnivet^ to whose 
 pernicious counsel he attributed the loss of the 
 fight, and whom he vowed to kill if he could 
 find him. He was soon exhausted by loss of 
 
 (a) Da Bellay, I. ii. Guicciardini, 1. xv. MSS. Cotton. 
 Vitell. B. vii. p. 80. Sandoval. Pet. Martyr. Angler. 
 Lord Herbert's and Mr, Turner's Henry VHI. 
 
 {b) " Madame, tout est perdu — fors I'honneur." — Le P. 
 Daniel. 
 
488 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, blood, and, falling from his horse, was carried to 
 
 '. Pavia, to the house of the countess de Scarsa- 
 
 fiore, who was tenderly attached to him, and 
 who sought by the most assiduous care to save 
 his life, but in vain. Bonnivet^ who^ when it 
 was too late to repair them^, became fully sen- 
 sible of the evils which his advice had helped to 
 bring about, had performed prodigies of valour. 
 He had more than once turned the current of the 
 fight by bringing up bodies of troops whom he 
 had rallied^ and being at last separated by the 
 charge of Bourbon's lanz-knechts from the king's 
 battle, which it was fmpossible for him to re- 
 join, he might have saved his life with honour. 
 But the grief he felt at the inevitable result 
 of the fight was too poignant to be endured ; 
 he determined not to survive it^ and rushing 
 upon the lanz-knechts^ met from them the death he 
 courted. Bourbon, from whom he had more to 
 fear than from the marechal de Foix, had sought 
 him throughout the field with a resolute eager- 
 nesSj for the avowed purpose of revenging upon 
 his person the wrongs he had suffered^ and of 
 which he believed the favourite had been the 
 cause. When at length he found him^ his ene- 
 my lay stretched upon the bloody ground, a 
 mangled corse, A feeling of human pity rose in 
 Bourbon's heart as he looked upon him, and 
 turning away his liead^ he exclaimed^ '' Un- 
 happy man, you have caused France's ruin and 
 mine!" 
 Prisoners. The uumber of prisoners taken was very great. 
 
OF FRANCIS THE FIRST. 489 
 
 Henri d'Albret fell into the hands of Pescara, chap. 
 who refused to accept a ransom for him, and the ^^• 
 king of Navarre, fearing that the emperor would 
 scruple little at resorting to any means for ex- 
 tinguishing his pretensions to his frontier king- 
 dom, determined to attempt his escape, which 
 he fortunately effected. («) The prince de Boz- 
 zolo had the same good fortune. The count de 
 St. Pol, who had been left for dead upon the 
 field, was restored to animation by a soldier^s 
 attempting to cut off his finger, for the purpose 
 of possessing himself of a valuable ring. He in- 
 duced this man J3y the promise of a large reward, 
 to carry him to Pavia ; and being cured of his 
 wounds, he returned to France with his deliverer. 
 The marechal de Montmorenci had the misfor- 
 tune to be made a prisoner without sharing in 
 the glory of the fight. He had been dispatched 
 by the king to St. Lazaro, and hearing the firings 
 
 [a] His escape was effected by means of his page, Vives, 
 who went into his prison one morning early to dress him. 
 The king put on the page's clothes, and thus passed out un- 
 suspected by the guard, while Vives took his master's place 
 in his bed, and for the purpose of giving time for his evasion, 
 pretended to be asleep. When he was at length awoke in 
 spite of himself, he said he was very ill, and continued to 
 keep the curtains drawn close until the evening. The cap- 
 tain of the guard, who had by that time begun to entertain 
 some suspicions, entered the room, and unceremoniously 
 opened the bed curtains, when he recognised Vives. His 
 youth and his devotion to his master exempted him from 
 punishment. The king found horses in waiting for him, and 
 reached Piedmont in safety. — Du Bellay, 1. ii. Varillas, t. i. 
 p. 305. 
 
 VOL. I. K K 
 
490 THE LIFE AND TIMES 
 
 CHAP, was returniug in all haste^ when he was inter- 
 ^^' cepted by a detachment of the enemy, and cap- 
 
 and Pes- 
 cara 
 
 tared. Brion and Montchenii, the king^s per- 
 sonal friends^ were taken in the melee beside 
 him. Fleuranges, de Loyes, Guillaume du Bel- 
 lay, la Roche du Maine, and many other illus- 
 trions leaders, were also made prisoners. 
 Francis Hie demcanour of Francis in his captivity 
 Bourbon^ was so manly and becomings as to command 
 the respect of his enemies ; and even the com- 
 mon soldiers were so struck with the valour he 
 had displaced in the combat, that they were 
 lond in their admiration of him^ which they 
 sometimes expressed by an unceremonious 
 comparison of his frank and bold character 
 with that of their more cautious emperor, (a) 
 He underwent the trying scene of an interview 
 witli Bourbon, with great dignity. Bourbon 
 had solicited permission to visit him^ and Fran- 
 cis, thinking perhaps th;(t his former subject 
 had some cause of complaint, and feeling that 
 in his present situation it would be vain and 
 unbecoming to evince any resentment against 
 a rebel ^^ ho had become his conqueror^ readily 
 acceded to his wish. He received him with the 
 
 {a) One of the Spauish harquebiissiers brought F-ancis a 
 g-olden l)ullet, which, he said, he had made for the purpose of 
 shooting' him with, if ho had had an opportunity, in the battle. 
 He had also six silver ones, which he had prepared for six 
 of the French leaders. — Varillas, t. i. The enthusiustic ad- 
 miration of the soldiers induced I annoy to give orders, 
 under the pretext that they disturbed the king, that they 
 should not be permitted to approach him. 
 
OK FRANCIS THE FIRST. 491 
 
 ceremonious respect due to his rank^ as a prince chap. 
 of the blood ; but took care to prevent the con- ^^' 
 versation extending beyond the ordinary phrases 
 of conventional civility. To Pomperant, who 
 accompanied him, and to whom Francis be- 
 lieved he was indebted for his life, he addressed 
 himself ^^ith a flattering cordiality. Pescara, 
 too, as soon as his wounds were dressed^ ^A aited 
 upon him and testified, by the modest and 
 respectful manner in whicli lie used the ad- 
 vantages of his victory, the sympathy he felt 
 for the king's misfortunes. Francis^ who was 
 touched with the generosity of this proceeding, 
 and who had, besides, a proper estimation for 
 Pescara's courage and talents, treated him with 
 great kindness. He seated him at table with 
 him, praised him unaffectedly for the skill he 
 had displayed in the recent encounter, and 
 talked over the circumstances of it with an ap- 
 pearance of indiiference which, although it must 
 have been assumed, was well suited to the occa- 
 sion. Pescara assured him, that the emperor 
 would make none but a generous use of his ad- 
 vantage, and pledged his own influence to pro- 
 cure the king's liberation as soon, and upon as 
 favourable terms, as miglit be possible. lie dis- 
 patched messengers to Spain, with the news of 
 the battle ; and until the emperor's directions 
 respecting liis royal prisoner should be received, 
 he assigned him, at his own request, the castle 
 of Pizzighitone for his residence, wliither Fran- 
 cis soon afterwards repaired uiirlcr the guard of 
 
492 THE LIFE AND TIMES, &C. 
 
 CHAP. Alar^oii, who had succeeded Prospero Colonna 
 ^^' in the command of the Spanish infantry. 
 
 The victory was, in all respects^ a most deci- 
 sive one. The only place beyond the Alps be- 
 longing* to Francis was the castle of Milan^ 
 which Teodoro Trivulzio and Chandion held ; 
 when they heard of the defeat, they retreated 
 into France, and once more the French power 
 was extinct in Italy. The king was a pri- 
 soner ; the most noble of his subjects were 
 sharing his fate, or had encountered a more 
 disastrous one; the gendarmerie was almost 
 cut to pieces, and the black bands, the flower 
 of the German infantry, were wholly destroyed ; 
 these were the melancholy fruits of the ill-ad- 
 vised Battle of Pavia. 
 
 END OF VOL. I 
 
 CIXNELL AND SHEARMAN, SALISBURY SyUARE. 
 
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